Ersatz
by TheKid'sKid
Summary: Ghosts are not people. They are driven by instinct; primal and dangerous as animals, forever surrounded by their own illusions and perceptions. At least, that's what Danny Fenton has always been taught. But if that were true, then why is he so different? Or is that just another illusion? Danny Phantom AU
1. Chapter 1

Beginning Note: This will be an AU based off the show as well as my own headcanons. It will begin to deviate drastically from the tv storyline as we go along. Now, I'm not sure when I'll be continuing this, so for now this is a sort of stand alone chapter. The idea is a little hard to explain, and I feel this first chapter does quite a bit of that on it's own. All the characters have been altered in small and major ways, as you will see.

This chapter is based on the first episode of Danny Phantom, Mystery Meat. However, the twist is that it takes place just before Danny gets his powers. So how does a non-ghost Danny deal with a ghost? Mostly by running. Yeah; not too much ghost action in this one, as it's more character study, but I'm pretty proud of it. Rating is T for this one, but is sure to escalate to M if I continue. I gots plans.

Listened to 'In The Room Where You Sleep' by Dead Man's Bones. It really fits the atmosphere I'm trying to create with this AU, and the tune and lyrics are catchy and creepy at the same time! Just like DP!

Anyway, if you read it don't be afraid to drop a comment! Whether it's love/hate/confusion, go right ahead!

Also pardon my grammar and spelling mistakes; I wrote this all at around four AM and I'm just too tired to go back and correct things.

Chapter 1: Where You Sleep

The early morning quiet was interrupted by a repetitive, annoying sound, causing the room's lone occupant to roll toward it with a groan. Danny Fenton rubbed his hands harshly over his eyes before flinging an arm out of the warm depths of his bed covers, hitting the snooze button square on before settling back down with a tired sigh. He'd stayed up nearly the entire night with his best friends Tucker and Sam on a new online RPG that had just opened up. It had seemed so worth it a few hours ago, but now Danny wasn't so sure.

"Danny! Time to get up!"

Another groan emitted from the fourteen-year-old as he listened to the sound of his older sister, Jazz, passing by his closed door on her way downstairs. Experience had taught Danny to never mess with Jazz when it came to mornings. If he tried to ignore her, he'd be getting a cold surprise in the form of a cup of water. Why oh why did he have to have a morning person as a sister? Oh well, it could be worse; he could have parents that were morning people. A few sleepovers at Sam's house had really shown Danny the light. Figuratively and literally when they both yanked Sam's heavy black curtains aside, jolting Danny awake and nearly blinding him.

The annoying sound returned, and Danny's fogged mind was dragged back from the edge of sleep as he pressed the off button forcefully, sitting up with a scowl. Untangling himself from the covers, Danny shivered a little in the cool air of the house as he made his way to his closet, removing a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans. Getting dressed, Danny walked dazedly out of his room and into the neighboring bathroom, taking in his exhausted appearance. School had only begun that week and already Danny was nearly falling asleep in class. He knew it was his own doing, but that didn't stop him from loudly complaining and blaming the school and all its teachers.

Danny himself was an average-looking kid. He had pale skin, acquired from his mother's Germanic genes; he was just grateful he hadn't inherited her freckles like his sister had. This was accompanied by light blue eyes and black shaggy hair, which stuck out in spastic angles, causing Danny to reach for a comb as he attempted to recall his dream. It had been a weird one, but he always seemed to forget his dreams rather quickly, so he stopped bothering as the comb caught in a particularly stubborn knot, causing Danny to let out a mumbled curse. He really ought to get it cut, the front was beginning to hang in his face, nearly covering his right eye.

He heard Jazz distantly call for him to hurry up so he'd have time to eat breakfast. Danny had never had much of an appetite, and as a result he was incredibly skinny, which led to him wearing baggy clothes quite a lot. It didn't help. In fact, Danny often admitted to himself that it probably made it worse. He swore the next person who made an anorexic or bulimic joke at him was going to get puked on.

Finished with his morning routine, Danny left the bathroom and trudged downstairs to have breakfast with his family; or rather, eat cereal with his sister while his parents tinkered with a new ghost invention.

His parents had always been obsessed with the supernatural, long before he was born. Foggy memories of trips out to remote locations in search of ectoplasm residue or ghostly artifacts were the majority of Danny's recalled childhood. But in the past four years his parents had stopped the trips abruptly, and had practically moved into the basement, which was converted fully into something from a fifties science fiction film.

It was all the same to Danny, really; his parents had always been rather preoccupied with their interests, leaving little time for himself and his sister. He and his mother used to be incredibly close, but that had changed due mostly to Danny's typical teenage 'Get away Mom you're embarrassing me' attitude. He wished he could say he and Dad had once shared the same intimacy, but truth be told Danny had always been rather estranged from his father. Not that Jack Fenton was cold or cruel in the slightest; quite the opposite, really. Danny just…never really knew what to say to the man, and he was sure his father felt the same. So aside from short conversations, shared laughs at a joke, and a mutual desire to hoard everything they owned, the two male Fentons tended to pass eachother by as if they were, well, ghosts.

Recently, at Jazz's adamant request, the two scientists had begun hauling their latest experiments to the dinner table every morning, under the guise that they were sharing quality breakfast time as a family. It kind of worked. Jazz stopped pestering them about spending time with herself and Danny, even though both parents didn't make an effort to eat or talk. It didn't make much difference to Danny, he was more than accustomed to it by now, any besides, he was just grateful not to have overbearing parents like Sam's, who practically never left her side.

* * *

The halls of Casper High were swarming with students and faculty alike, making it nearly impossible to take three steps without getting an elbow in the gut, your foot stepped on, or temporarily deafened when someone yelled at another across the hall…right in your ear.

This made carrying a conversation headache-inducing, but by god were Danny, Sam and Tucker going to try. All three were dead tired, but buzzing with excitement over the new level they'd unlocked in last night's game. All in all, they considered the day's coming exhaustion worth it.

Sam and Danny had been given lockers right beside each other at the start of the term, and Tucker had thrown such a passionate and well-worded fit in the principal's office that the woman had finally relented and reassigned him to a new locker beside Sam's.

That was Tucker Foley all over; intelligent, stubborn, and relentless when he saw a new goal to reach for. It was the reason he was one of the highest-scoring students in all of Casper High. The African American was tallest of the three friends by a few inches, which he proudly lorded over the two often enough to get old quick. His love of bad puns and sarcasm was surpassed only by his affinity for technology.

Last year, as a joke, Danny had hidden the other boy's brand new PDA, and when Tucker had finally found it (after breaking Danny's locker door) he had cradled it tenderly while shooting glares Danny's way as if the other had kidnapped his firstborn. As funny as it was, Danny vowed to never screw around with Tucker's gadgets again, mostly due to the fact that he was blamed for his busted locker, Tucker left him to take the heat alone, and he spent the remaining afternoons of eighth grade in detention for damaging school property.

Tucker had once had some cool dreadlocks, but his parents' repeated disapproval had finally persuaded him to shave them off over the summer. He was still in mourning. He now sported a red beret, and Danny feared he was becoming as obsessed with it as he had been over his old dreads. Hell, he'd buried the damn things in his backyard like an old dog. Tucker could be scary sometimes. It took a while for the spark to return to the teen's green eyes, bemoaning his naked head long into the summer until Sam finally told him she'd buy a hat of his choosing if he'd just shut up. Hey, it worked.

Danny pulled himself from thoughts of his forgotten math homework as he listened to Tucker debate combat strategies with Sam, wisely choosing to stay silent and not pick a side. The two always got this way when it came to just about anything. For long-time friends, Tucker and Sam shared little in common, and it was a wonder they put up with each other. But the three friends knew at the end of the day that both loved each other dearly and, despite frequent yelling fits, had each others' backs.

Sam Manson was practically the yin to Tucker's yang. Where he bowed before the technological revolution, Sam's heart was held by the medieval, the dark, and the decrepit. Things like bats, thick eyeliner, and a new choker caused her to go all gooey inside. Tucker's giving in to his parents had strengthened Sam's own mother and fathers' resolve to pester her about her several ear piercings over the summer, but Sam had yet to stand down. In fact, as a show of rebellion, she'd went out and gotten the right side of her head shaven, leaving the left half to fall in raven spikes just below her jawline. Part of Danny wished he'd had a camera trained on her parents the second they returned to her house, another part wished he could erase the memory of their reaction from his mind forever.

* * *

Danny was fighting a losing battle to stay focused on the teacher's voice as the end of first period drew near. He wished terribly that he shared this class with his two friends, but Sam had World History and Tucker gym, leaving Danny to brave one of his most hated subjects, English, alone and steadily falling asleep as though the droning voice of Mr Lancer was a lullaby. With any luck he'd make it through the day without getting busted for drooling on his desk, although he was dreading facing his math teacher without his homework completed. She liked to scream to get her point across.

The bell ringing was very much like a second alarm clock, and Danny jerked his head up, realising it had steadily begun to droop down toward his chest. As he began to rise slowly from his seat, he felt the back of his head grabbed from behind and had but a moment of delirious confusion before his cheek was roughly pushed down onto his desk. He didn't have to look up to know who had caused the blossoming pain in his right cheek. Dash Baxter wasn't the smartest person but he was crafty when it came to bullying, practically refining the hobby to an artform. He quickly released Danny from his hold as he passed by, backpack slung over a shoulder and smirk radiating off of him, becoming stronger as he left the class without Mr Lancer so much as noticing. Danny sighed, it wasn't anything new; he was pretty much a wallflower in this school anyway, with no high grades or dark gothic appearance to set him apart from the crowd.

Dash was quickly followed by the rest of the class, and Danny waited until they were all gone before he finally made his exit, preferring to spend a few extra seconds in first period than be trampled by stampeding students.

Danny held his hurting cheek for a few minutes as he made his way to his locker, glaring at the ground as he wished for the millionth time since fifth grade that he could stand up to Dash. Make the larger male leave him alone, or better yet, get even. But the first and only time Danny had ever hit Dash back had been in sixth grade, and both boys had nearly been expelled from school. Danny for 'starting the fight', and Dash for fracturing Danny's right arm.

As Sam and Tucker came into view, already pulling things from their lockers, Danny forced thoughts of Dash from his mind as he looked forward to second period, which all three friends shared, Biology.

* * *

"What have you done!?"

As Danny heard the distant shout of Tucker he knew it was probably a sign that he should just turn around and walk away, but with a sigh he made his way through the crowd of students toward where his two friends stood. Sam seemed to be standing a little straighter than normal, lording one hell of a smirk over Tucker who looked close to passing out, eyes staring up at…what? Danny followed the other boy's gaze to see a large sign nailed above the cafeteria line.

'Wednesday Vegan Lunch Day' Oh…

Doubting that Tucker could form coherent sentences at the moment, Danny turned a questioning look to Sam as he stood beside them.

"Uh guys, what's going on? The school changed the menu?"

Sam's smirk grew as she looked Danny's way, "Yep. The school board finally agreed to at least one day of vegan food only; I wore them down."

Tuck seemed to finally snap out of his daze, turning toward Sam with a devastated glare, as though the girl had committed a heinous act.

"How could you do this? Do you want to starve us?"

"Oh Tucker stop being so dramatic." With a flippant gesture Sam led the way to the growing line, and as the three friends got their trays and took in the sight of the food, Danny mentally agreed with Tucker. No way they were getting any real food today.

By the time they made it down the line and got to their usual table in a secluded corner of the cafeteria, Tucker looked as if his soul had been broken and Sam seemed the happiest Danny had seen her in weeks. This wasn't good; he could feel a fight brewing just below the surface of this situation. And as much as he wanted to play referee, picking up a piece of…whatever this was, Danny felt himself shifting to Tucker's side more and more.

"Uh Sam, don't you think this is going a little far?" Danny tried to keep his tone neutral as he held up the foreign substance on the end of his spork.

Sam made to reply, but a large hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking up, the three saw Mr Lancer, giving Sam a smile as he spoke.

"Ms Manson, the school board asked me to personally thank you for ushering in this welcome experiment to our cafeteria."

Tucker stiffened almost immediately, sniffing the air like an animal, eyes going almost primal as he stared toward the teacher. "Meat…near…"

Mr Lancer backpedaled quickly, eyes widening as he drew away from the three.

"No no, the rumors about the all-steak buffet in the teacher's lounge are completely untrue."

'Yeah right,' Danny thought with a small scowl.

Lancer gave one last nod toward Sam before walking away, speaking a he went. "Thanks again."

"Yeah, thanks again Sam for making us eat this garbage."

Danny sighed at Tucker's words. There was the start of the fight he knew was coming. He was growing more and more tired of playing mediator between these two.

Sam's previously smiling face dropped into a frown as she sat forward. "It's not garbage, it's recyclable organic matter."

"It's garbage." Both boys spoke in unison, Danny unable to help himself despite wanting to remain on the sidelines.

"FENTON!"

Danny, wishing he could turn invisible, turned around in his seat to see Casper High's biggest bully storming toward him, plate of 'organic matter' in hand. This was going to go badly for him.

"I ordered three mud pies. D'you know what they gave me? Three mud pies! With mud! From the ground! And all because of your stupid girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Danny felt an indignant heat rush up the back of his neck.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Apparently Sam felt the same.

They didn't have time to share in their mutual offense for long before Dash was hauling Danny from his seat by the front of his shirt, raging at him.

"These are the best years of my life; after highschool it's all downhill for me!"

'Well, at least he's self-aware…'

"How am I supposed to enjoy my glory days eating mud?"

"Actually it's topsoil." Came Sam's monotonous reply from somewhere behind Danny.

With an angry "Whatever!" Dash sent Danny crashing back into the table with a wince. A following clatter brought the raven-haired teen's attention to Dash's plate of dirt, which now sat before him. A spork was thrust toward his face as he heard Dash's words, tone offering no room for argument. "Eat it. All of it."

Danny stared at the spork in Dash's grip, wishing more than ever that he had the strength to kick this jerk's ass for once. Well, he may not have the physical strength for a fight, but he sure as hell wasn't going to eat this crap!

With a silent prayer that he wouldn't die today for this, Danny acted quickly before his courage could leave him, lifting the plate of topsoil and yelling "GARBAGE FIGHT!" at the top of his lungs. He took a moment to savor Dash's confused expression before throwing the plate and its contents into the jock's face.

The smaller teen immediately dove under the table, wanting to get as far away from the quickly mounting free-for-all as possible. Tucker seemed to get the idea, dropping to the floor along with Danny. Sam, however, was standing up, trying to shout in defense of her vegan menu, and Danny quickly dragged her down by her shirt, not wanting Dash to find them in the chaos. Students pelted one another with clumps of soil and other such questionable food items as the trio hastily crawled toward one of the exits.

In the confusion they ended up opening the door leading into the kitchen. Grateful that there seemed to be no one around, the friends decided silently to just stick it out there for the time being.

Careful to stay quiet, they crouched together behind a counter, shivering a bit in the suddenly dropping temperature. This in itself wouldn't be too strange; the kitchens were probably supposed to be cold, but what had the teens' collective attention was the old woman standing at the far end of the room, seeming to drift back and forth between the stoves and cabinets.

"Hey, who's the new lunch lady?" Tucker whispered.

"I don't know," Sam replied back, "And where are all the other lunch ladies, anyway? Um, excuse me. M'am?"

Sam stood up, walking toward the stranger, Danny and Tucker standing up as well, but choosing to stay back. Something about this just didn't feel right. Sam continued to speak as she came within a few feet of the woman.

"M'am, you do know there's a food fight going on outside, right?"

Finally the woman seemed to detect the goth girl's presence, turning to her. She appeared to be a lunch lady, dressed up in the cafeteria uniform, if a bit worn looking. She was definitely advanced in her years, wrinkled skin creasing as she turned a confused expression toward the girl before her.

"Hello deary, can you help me? Today's menu is meatloaf, but I don't see the meatloaf. Did someone change the menu?"

By this point Tucker and Danny had joined Sam, banishing all weird vibes they had felt before. Tucker let his angry scowl overcome his features once more, not wasting any opportunity to lay blame for what he considered a travesty.

"Yeah. She did." He pointed a thumb in Sam's direction.

Sam had no time for a comeback, as the temperature in the room skydived to the point that all three kids were seeing their breath. In joined confusion, they looked at each other and then back at the old lady. Bad mistake. The trio gasped in unison as the woman seemed to morph before their eyes, skin taking on a greenish glow and her eyes becoming red as she loomed over them, voice echoing off the walls in her fury.

"YOU CHANGED THE MENU? The menu has been the same for fifty years!"

Thinking fast, Danny grabbed Tucker and Sam by the arms and sprinted toward the cafeteria door. He only made it a few steps before the ear-piercing sound of tearing metal caused him to freeze, his friends smacking into his back with enough force to knock them all over in a pile. Three large ovens flew over the teens' heads and crashed into the wall, covering the door.

"Lunch is sacred! Lunch has rules!"

With one last roar of rage the old woman reached out a hand, grabbing hold of Sam and yanking her away from the others. The boy's reached out, grasping for Sam's hands, but it was useless. The crazy woman lifted up off the ground and ascended into the ceiling, dragging a screaming Sam along with her. For a few seconds the remaining two lay in a tangle of trembling limbs, too shocked at what had just happened to even speak. But fear for Sam overrode that quickly, and the two looked to one another in determination as they rose shakily from the floor, noticing the rise in temperature.

"What the hell was that!" Tucker's voice cracked as he spoke, looking around him as though he expected the woman to come back for them next.

"I-I don't know. I think it was a…a ghost. I mean, my parents have seen a few before, and they always said ghost could fly and stuff, and control objects."

"A ghost? Great, so you mean to tell me a flippin' ghost lady just grabbed Sam and flew away with her? What are we supposed to do?"

"We gotta call my parents." With that said, Danny led the way toward the other exit in the kitchen, which led outside the school building. Once there Danny pulled out his cellphone, glad he'd taken to carrying it in his jeans pocket instead of his backpack, which was back in the cafeteria. He pressed the speed-dial button for his house, pacing back a forth as he impatiently waiting for an answer.

One ring…two…three…four…fi-

"Hello? Danny? Why are you calling, honey?"

"Mom! There's uh, kind of a situation here at the school."

"What? You're not in trouble, are you? Is your sister alright?"

"Yeah she's fine. I hope…A-anyway, there's sort of a ghost here and-"

"Ghost!? Danny I want you to barricade yourself in a classroom and stay there until I come for you!"

"But Mo-"

"Now, Danny! We're on our way!"

With that the line went dead, and Danny turned to Tucker, who had heard most of the conversation. They knew there wasn't much they could do against a ghost, but there was no way they were going to hide away and abandon Sam. The two boys ran around the side of the school building, heading for the front entrance. They didn't know where this ghost lady was, but they were determined to search every room of every floor if they had to.

Turns out, they only made it halfway down the main hall before the sight of Mr Lancer rounding the corner, looking very pissed, stopped both of them in their tracks. Before they could think to hide, the teacher spotted them, as a hawk might spot its prey below on the ground.

"Fenton! Foley! You two have some explaining to do!"

He marched toward them, grasping them both by the wrists and began the short walk to his office. There they found Dash, who was still covered in mud and looking like cold retribution was about to be served. No doubt he'd run to Lancer with some sort of sob story. The teach brought both boys in, shutting the door behind him.

"Now I want you both to sit down."

"But we-"

"Now, Mr Foley! And no talking as of right now. I'm not in the mood for any of your excuses."

Contemptuous looks in place, both teens sat down with a huff in the chairs which were placed before Mr Lancer's desk. Dash chose to remain in his spot, standing by the door and smirking at the smaller teens as Mr Lancer shuffled papers on his desk, speaking as he went.

"I just don't know what it is with you two and your penchant for misbehaving. Foley, you were nearly suspended for getting into an argument with a teacher last year, if I remember correctly. And the both of you have quite a record of tardiness, among other things. But as of yet, neither of you have committed any severe mischief before today, so tell me…why did the two of you conspire to destroy the school cafeteria!"

"Hey, Dash started it! He's-" Danny attempted to defend himself, but Lancer was having none of it.

"The football teams lead player and therefore exempt from scorn. You two on the other hand, are not. I'll map out your punishment when I return. Mr Baxter, I want you to watch the door."

With that, the man promptly left, and with a malicious grin in the twos' direction, Dash closed the office door behind him. They could see the back of his head through the tiny window in the door. He wasn't going anywhere.

Both boys rose, and Tucker was the first to speak, keeping his voice down so as not to be heard by anyone but Danny.

"We've got to find Sam, and fast. I feel like this is my doing."

"Maybe because you told that ghost she changed the menu? How 'bout that?"

Sudden movement caught both boys' eyes, and they looked over to the tv screens installed in the wall of the office. Mr Lancer was Vice Principal, as well as a teacher, and as such his office held the screens to the school security cameras. Looking up at one of the small black and white televisions, Danny and Tucker watched as the ghost from the kitchen floated back and forth on the screen, seeming to have a conversation with Sam, who was trapped under a pile of meat.

'Where'd all that meat come from?'

"That looks like the school storage cellar," Tucker said, pointing at the screen. "I know how to get there, but how do we bust out of this room with Bone-Cruncher on watch?"

Danny searched about the room, his eyes landing on the window.

"I've got an idea. Come on."

He moved toward the window, opening it up and taking a look outside. They were only on the ground floor, but they couldn't go out and step back in through the main hall; they were sure to get spotted by Dash or Lancer that way. No, the only way to go was up. Pulling his head back inside, Danny looked to Tucker.

"Alright, we're gonna have to climb up to the second story window. Luckily most of the windows are open since the weather's still warm, so all we gotta do-"

"No way am I scaling up a building!"

"Come on Tuck it's just up one floor, it's not even far! We can't leave Sam alone with that thing, it could hurt her!"

With a guilty look, Tucker stepped up to the window. Taking that as reluctant agreement, Danny pulled himself out the window, sitting on its ledge as he looked up. True, it really wasn't that far; definitely within reach, but it would still hurt to come tumbling down.

Gulping, Danny began to shakily stand on the windowsill, trying not to panic as his arms stretched above him with nothing to grasp onto. Finally, he felt his hands make contact with the above window. He called down below him.

"Tucker, I can't pull myself up. Try to push my legs if you can."

"Got it."

Feeling his friend's arms wrap around his legs, Danny fought to keep his balance as he felt Tucker begin to lift him. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Danny's fingertip hold on the window to become surer. He put all his strength into lifting himself. It wasn't an easy task; he and Tucker tended to slack when it came to gym. Now he was beginning to see the reasoning behind Sam's constant preaching about fitness.

Danny made it into the window slowly, first by an elbow, then another, then there was the mad scuffle to try and pull the rest of himself into the window, all the while trying not to kick Tucker in the face. The landing wasn't so graceful, and once Danny pushed himself to his feet he surveyed the room he was in.

Seemed to be a classroom, thankfully unused at the moment. With that Danny turned back to the window, calling to Tucker, who was already trying to stand up on the windowsill.

"Grab my arms, I'll try to pull you up!"

"Are you crazy? You barely got yourself up!"

"Just come on, Tucker!"

The two boys latched onto each others' arms, and Danny found that pulling someone else up was much harder then pushing his own body. It took several exhausting minutes and a lot of cursing and sweating, but finally both friends ended up back in a pile on the floor.

It was then that they heard a mighty roar coming from directly below, and both jumped to their feet.

"Guess Lancer came back."

Knowing that time was running out, Tucker led the way as the two ran in the direction of the school's storage room. As they ran Danny thought he could hear the familiar sounds of his parents' voices. Good. They'd know what to do. Danny thought of just running to them, but three things stopped him. One being the fact that he'd most likely slam into Lancer on the way. Reason two was that…well, most people didn't like his parents, or at least they barely tolerated them. The Fentons were pretty infamous in Amityville for running strange, often loud experiments inside their home at all hours. And three was that Danny just really wanted to get to Sam. If she got hurt, Danny didn't know what he and Tucker would do.

After two flights of stairs, the two males finally made it down to a wooden door in a dim hallway. Getting horror movie vibes, Danny couldn't help but hold Tucker by the back of his shirt as the other boy led the way, seeming just as spooked.

As soon as they entered the large dark room they could hear the voice of the ghost woman. Thankfully she sounded much calmer than before. She seemed to be trying to get Sam to try some meat, to which the vegan girl was not willing to budge.

Tucker and Danny took cover behind a large crate, looking on as the woman appeared to be loosing her patience. That ghost definitely wouldn't stay calm for long, so Danny quickly decided on a plan.

"Alright, Tuck, I'm going to go out there and get that thing to chase me. When she does, get Sam and get the hell out of here."

"What, no way, man! We ca-"

"No. You know I can run faster than you, and I'm smaller so that gives me an advantage. Once you're out go find my parents; tell them where I am."

Before Tucker could argue further, Danny leaped from behind the crate, waving his arms in the air and hoping he didn't look as scared as he felt.

"Yoohoo, hey ghost! Why don't you and your meat go haunt a butchery somewhere?"

The ghost luckily took the bait, turning toward Danny with a frown. As she started to advance, Danny ran toward her, not wanting to lead her back to Tucker. He managed to doge her outstretched arm and blazed down the storage room, calling over his shoulder as he went.

"Hah! seems my all veggie diet is working better for me than any meat could!" He felt more than saw the ghost in hot pursuit. He was far too afraid to look back, and so kept on running. That is, until a hand seized hold of one of his ankles. He found himself dangling upside down in the air as the ghost rose into the air.

"See? This is why you need meat," She proclaimed angrily, giving Danny a rough shake by his leg. "You're skin and bone!"

Before he knew it Danny was flying; sailing across the room and smack into a wall. It left him completely winded as he slid to the floor, unable to get up and run. Through the fogged pain he felt the air grow cold as the ghost hovered over him. He managed to look up just in time to see piles of meat forming around her, like some sort of fleshy outer shell.

'Oh great. I'm going to be killed by an old lady wrapped in meat.'

Just as the meat ghost raised her hands into the air with a victorious expression, a green beam of light shot through the centre of her body, causing bits of meat to fly in every direction. The creature turn around in confusion, only to be met with two more blasts, sending it flying away from Danny.

It was his parents; it had to be. Danny was so happy that he nearly passed out. He slowly raised himself to his hands and knees, wincing at what was sure to be bruises in the morning. He could hear his parents yelling something or other through the fog that still lingered over his mind.

Suddenly, all became quiet, and Danny's vision cleared just as he saw his parents running toward him. He stood up, looking worriedly around himself.

"Mom, Dad, where's the ghost? Did it get away? And where are Tucker and Sam, we need to-"

"Danny calm down, it's all going to be okay. Your friends are safe upstairs with Mr Lancer, and as for the ghost…"

As Maddie trailed off, Jack triumphantly held up a small green and white object, to which Danny raised a questioning brow.

"A thermos?"

"Not just any thermos, Danny. It's a thermos with the name Fenton on it." Jack held the thermos aloft as he spoke, as if the item were a religious symbol. "This baby can capture and trap ghosts inside it. Pretty neat, huh?"

Danny was about to question why exactly a thermos, of all things, but his father continued speaking, looking incredibly happy, despite the fact that the air held the noxious aroma of incinerated meat, and his son was very nearly stomped by several hundred pounds of steak.

"We gotta get this baby back to lab, and pronto! Come on Maddie, back to the Fenton RV!"

Maddie gave her son a quick peck on the cheek before joining her husband in their race back toward the storage door.

"Bye sweetie! We'll see you when you get home!"

'Of course. Whenever there's a ghost involved, I might as well be the dead one.'

Letting the solemn and depressing thought linger in his mind, Danny ascended the stairs as well. He was snapped from his thoughts, however, when he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt. Looking up, he was met by the icy green glare of one Mr Lancer. He could also see Tucker and Sam standing off to the side, and while he was relieved both of them were okay, he also wished he were back in the storage room with the ghost.

* * *

Danny planned on crashing into bed immediately as he walked up the front steps to his home. Lancer had made all three of them stay after school to clean every inch of the cafeteria, all the while listening to the lunch ladies go on about how they had been saying the kitchen was haunted for years and it was great to finally be proven right. Also there was a big debate over whether the ruined ovens should be considered the kids' fault. Thankfully Mr Lancer wasn't that cruel. However, he did allow Dash to supervise the cleanup…

Walking through his front door, Danny immediately picked up on the strange feeling in the atmosphere. It was as though the very air were buzzing, and Danny looked about the empty house in confusion. When his eyes landed on the slight glow coming from the basement stairs, his curiosity got the best of him and he made his way quietly down into the lab. He hardly ever ventured down there; the various inventions and overall feel of the place spooked him a bit. At the far end of the large room Danny saw his parents mumbling to one another as they stood before one of their longtime projects, the Ghost Portal. For over a year the two had been obsessed with getting the large machine up and running, convinced that they had figured out how to make it work. Unfortunately, test after test had failed, leaving the elder Fentons more frustrated as the months went by.

Danny had made the mistake of asking his mom how the thing was supposed to work one afternoon, and Maddie had sat him down with a huge smile and proceeded to spend hours explaining in detail how portals between the human world and the ghost realm were supposedly created. Apparently it was believed that ancient civilizations would hold sacrifices, killing animals and sometimes people. In doing so, their deaths would open, however briefly, the passage between the two planes.

Of course this was incredibly barbaric and outdated, according to his mother. No, the Fentons would find another way of unlocking the other world, Maddie was sure of that. They had enough ectoplasm supplies to try again and again to start up the machine, but each time the hulking device implanted in their wall only stood there, cold and impassive. Sometimes it sparked, but that was the extent. Now it seemed they were ready for another attempt. Each time they seemed a little less excited, and it made Danny feel bad for them. He wished the stupid thing would just work already so his mom and dad could finally stop obsessing and get some actual sleep.

His parents seemed to catch on to his presence as he neared, and they turned to him with excited expressions, his father's voice booming out to echo off the white walls.

"Danny! You're just in time to watch us start up the Fenton Ghost Portal! This time we got it for sure; your mother corrected a few calculation errors she'd made and we've got everything up and running."

Maddie frowned up at her husband for a moment, and Danny knew it was because those calculation errors were no doubt made by his father. Whether Jack was just too dense or too proud no one was really sure.

But the frown was soon abandoned in favor of a smile as Maddie stood beside Danny, obviously happy to be sharing in this 'special moment' with her son. If she got too sentimental like last time Danny was definitely ditching. Jack was busy giving the machine one last look-over, making sure all the switches were on, a low hum emanating from the dormant Portal as the bulky man stood back a few steps, coming to stand beside a monitor. There beside a few flashing lights and switches was a single red button, which Jack pressed after yelling and ear-shattering "BANZAI!"

As Danny expected, nothing happened. The machine continued to hum, and after a minute his mother lowered his arms, which she'd been clasping, and her face faltered a bit. Danny couldn't help but slump in response. This would undoubtedly lead to another night of listening to his parents mutter and curse amongst themselves directly below his room.

Jack rubbed a hand across the growing stubble on his jawline as he stared at the Portal with a defeated expression.

"Well…I guess we should go back to the basics…again. But first, I'm gonna go grab a snack. It's gonna be a long night."

Danny stepped forward, not sure what caused his next words but knowing he wanted his parents to stop looking so worn down and stressed. Okay, maybe this was all getting to him more than he thought it was.

"Why don't you both go out to eat instead? Come on, you've been down here working on this thing for forever! When's the last time you so much as left the house?"

His mother placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him with tired brown eyes.

"Oh Danny, we're fine. Just a five minute break is all we need."

"Oh come on, you haven't eaten an actual meal in days, and I know you both sleep down here. Just one night, what do you say? You guys deserve a night to yourselves."

His parents must have been more exhausted than even he thought because they seemed to give in at that, looking to one another before smiling reluctantly, looking toward the stairs as though unsure of how to walk up them anymore. Danny, happy to know he wouldn't be kept up by sounds of his parents experimenting that night, led the way up and into the house.

An hour later he waved his parents out the door before they could change their minds. It had been a struggle to get convince Jack to change into normal clothes, and Danny had practically pulled out his hair trying to find a nice restaurant for the two of them while Maddie showered and dressed, but all in all Danny felt proud of himself that he could do this one nice thing for his parents, and for his own sleep cycle. But as Danny began to ascend the stairs toward his room, his gaze was pulled back down to the glow of the lab. Seems in his haste no one had bothered to turn the lights off down there. If Jazz came home and found it like that, she'd tear into all of them about wasting electricity.

Down in the basement, Danny looked about for the lights switch. He couldn't recall a time when the lab had never been fully lit, and was beginning to doubt such a switch's existence as he walked up and down each wall, coming to stand before the far wall, eyes lingering on all the buttons and switches on the Ghost Portal's monitor. Danny felt a sigh leave him as he watched the flashes, hating the machine for being so defiant. Why couldn't it just work? Surely his parents had everything correct; what could be missing? The teen felt his mood crash as he pondered over how, even if his parents actually got some descent sleep tonight, they'd be right back in here come morning.

Strangely the only place the bright lights of the lab didn't touch was inside the Portal. It couldn't have been that deep, but as Danny stared into the shadows, the back seemed to extend and stretch on forever, and Danny got the distinct impression of a cave, or a tunnel. Curiosity peaking, Danny turned to the rack of jumpsuits nearby. At Jack's insistence, they'd had matching suits made for all four family members, and Danny pulled his shirt over his head before he lost his nerve. The Portal was spooky, but maybe there was a loose wire or something that his parents had overlooked.

Stepping into the machine, Danny couldn't help a slight shiver overtake him. Was it just in his head or was it colder in this small space? Definitely getting the creeps, Danny stepped toward the back of the Portal, feeling his balance tilt slightly as the dark messed with his depth perception. Not wanting to fall over in the Portal like a dumbass, Danny reached a hand blindly out to where he knew the wall would be. He felt something give way under his palm, and jerked his hand back in surprise. Peering toward it in the blackness, Danny noticed that he had accidentally pressed a button, hidden away in here for some reason. Probably his father's doing. It was then that the low hum of the machine began to grow, and the low buzz that Danny had grown used to intensified, and Danny could practically feel it in his bones as fear spiked through him. He stepped back, intending to backpedal out of the scary machine, but was halted by a pinprick of light at the back of the Portal, rapidly growing in size. Danny had but a moment to gape at the green swirling color before his entire world was bathed in white.

* * *

Awakening was a slow experience. Danny wasn't sure how long he'd been lying on his back in total darkness, and he just hoped he wasn't badly hurt. The last thing he remembered was a pain unlike anything he'd ever felt. It reminded him of the time he'd reached into the back of the dryer as a child, helping his mother with household chores. He'd received a shock, and after staring at his arm for several seconds, had proceeded to cry for hours. He never forgot that odd sensation as the years passed. It wasn't so much painful as it was odd; strange wave-like pulses racing up and down his arm at the speed of light. The same thing had definitely just happened to him in this damn Ghost Portal. Only this time, it had been all over his body. And it had been painful. Really painful.

Danny let out a weak cough, his head feeling thick and clouded, as though he were suffering a nasty headcold. He attempted to sit up, but found to his worry that it was as though he were magnetized to the floor. Danny felt as if a great weight was suddenly settling over him, making the simple act of moving nearly impossible. Danny wasn't claustrophobic by any means, but he felt what little breath he'd regained leave his body as panic overrode rational thought and he pressed his palms flat on the cold ground, pushing with all his might as his eyes squeezed shut, the pain in his head becoming alarming. Why couldn't he just get up!? Get up!

Danny felt the air forced from his body as he finally sat up, feeling a bit like he'd fallen from a great height. He sat in a daze for several minutes before he began the slow crawl out of the Portal. As he stood in the silent air of the basement, he realised with a bit of a shock that the entire lab was coated in darkness. The lights were all off, and the monitor was no longer flashing. Maybe that shock had shorted out the power. He'd get hell for this if his parents found out. With that thought in mind, Danny decided that it would be best if he just went up to his room and feigned ignorance.

Wanting to get out the eerie blackness, Danny couldn't help but take the stairs two at a time, relief flooding him as he reached a hand out to open the basement door.

Relief turned to confusion when the door didn't open as he intended it to. His brain scrambled for a moment as he stared down at the doorknob he was sure he'd reached for. Reaching out slowly a second time, Danny's confusion bled into disbelief as his hand went right through the doorknob! Was he just seeing things? It was dark down here but…

He tried again. And again. And again. He literally couldn't touch the damn door! Oh god what was happening!? How was he going to get out? Okay slow breaths, panicking isn't doing any favors. Oh Jesus just get me out of here I want out now!

In Danny's petrified haze, he felt an subtle sensation overtake him. It felt similar to the low buzz that had been pulsing in the lab before when he'd first entered. Danny reached out on impulse, and jumped nearly out of his skin when his hand made contact with the cold of the doorknob. He stood for several moments, gripping the shiny metal and listening to his own ragged breaths. What had just happened?

Feeling as though some major wire in his head had been disconnected, Danny opened the door into the quiet darkness of the house. Seems he was out longer than he thought. He was just glad no one had found him down there passed out because of his own idiocy. Walking into one of your parents active inventions. Genius.

Before he could head for the stairs, Danny remembered his discarded clothes back downstairs, and smacked himself over the head. He instantly regretted the action, as it caused his vision to tilt slightly. He turned and hastily made his way back down into the shadows, eyes focusing on his shirt and jeans lying just outside the Portal. He quickly unzipped the hazmat suit, hanging it on the rack as he dressed himself. Out the corner of his eye he caught a bit of white in the black, and his eyes were drawn toward it, brows furrowing as he realised something was inside the Ghost Portal.

Reluctant to go back in there, Danny took a few shaky steps toward the Portal, eyes adjusting little by little, until with a growing sense of unease, Danny began to see a shape forming in the darkness. The white of it stood out most, and Danny found himself stepping forward, his mind rebelling and shouting at him to turn and run. His body disobeyed, coming to stand over the unknown mass in the Portal. And it was then that Danny felt the world dissolve. Everything seemed to fade; his universe shrinking to contain only the darkness, the Portal, him, and the body before him.

It was his body. It had to be. It looked just like him, lying there on the floor of the Ghost Portal, eyes closed and mouth hanging slightly open. But…if that was him, than who was he? Danny looked down at himself; he was himself, he knew he was. But…

None of this made sense. He was dreaming, he had to be! Thoughts seemed to spiral in Danny's mind, and he reached out a hand to touch the body lying before him. He couldn't help but gasp in fear as his hand made contact with the cool hazmat suit that covered his chest. And that's when he noticed that the chest wasn't rising. It wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing. What did this all mean? Danny placed his other hand over his own chest, and sat in absolute stillness, willing himself to feel a heartbeat. He was breathing, there had to be a heartbeat! But the seconds ticked by and Danny didn't feel the slightest stirring. A whimper slipped past his lips beyond his control and he began feeling for a pulse on his own wrist, tears of pure fear pricking at his eyes when he came up with nothing.

It was a bizarre sensation. He could feel his heart beating, practically pounding out of his ribcage, but he couldn't detect it at all with his hand. Same thing with the pulse. Oh god what were his parents going to say about all this!? No no, they can't find out. At least, not yet. I just…I just need to think.

Without realising it, Danny began to reach down toward his other self, and by the time his brain fully caught up, he was already gripping his body under the armpits and dragging it out of the Portal.

'Wow, for such a skinny guy I'm damn heavy.'

Struggling up the lab stairs with gasping breaths, Danny shouldered the still-open door wider, thankful now for the darkness of the house. Either his parents weren't home yet, or they were asleep. Either one would do.

Hauling his other, and presumably dead, self, Danny blanked his mind as he ascended the staircase toward his bedroom. He was terrified that if he allowed himself to stop and think that he'd completely lose it. Hell, this might all just be some dream, after all. Best to just stay calm and not panic.

Once in his room, Danny laid his body down onto the carpeted floor carefully and immediately closed and locked his door. Breathing a little easier, Danny then realised that he had absolutely no idea why he'd dragged his body in here of all places. Geeze what was I gonna do, arrange it in the bed and pretend it was me sleeping? I'm such an idiot.

Eyes sweeping the room, Danny's gaze settled on his closet, and with a cringe he decided that it would have to do for now. At least until he could figure this all out. And if it wasn't really a dream. It was probably a dream.

Danny tried not to look at his own face as he situated his body against the far wall of the closet. Luckily he had descent-sized closet space, and since he was a packrat he had an overflowing pile of junk to use as cover. Once he maneuvered a bunch of old boxes in front of the dead him, it was completely hidden from sight.

Feeling shaky and exhausted, Danny closed the closet door and decided that whether this was all happening or not, he needed sleep.

He was out before he could even get underneath his bed covers.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Woohoo! I got this second chapter written a LOT faster than I thought. But please don't get used to it, college takes up a lot of time. Anyway, this one's pretty short, and mostly Danny's thoughts and feelings. Sorry. I'll pick up the pace soon enough, I promise. Written all in one fell swoop like the last one, so forgive any mistakes.

Chapter 2: Just Breathe

The first emotion Danny felt as he awoke was annoyance. He really hated his alarm clock. After giving the device a hard smack to silence it, the teen lay curled on his bed, shivering slightly. Why was he so cold? Opening his eyes, he realised that he had fallen asleep over his bed covers.

_'Must've been really tired thanks to that crazy ghost fight yesterday.'_

As Danny heard Jazz's morning call through his door, he got up from his bed with a reluctant groan. He felt like he'd been slammed into a wall. No wait, he had. Danny opened his closet door and fished out fresh clothes, pulling off his shirt to see if any bruises had formed. Strangely, he seemed to be without injury.

As Danny brushed his hair in front of the bathroom mirror, he found himself thinking back on the weird dream he'd had. He wished he could remember the details, but all his sleepy brain provided him was an odd image of the house's old clothes dryer, and feeling as if he'd somehow walked into it. Ah well, dreams were supposed to not makes sense, he supposed.

After stepping out of the bathroom, Danny found to his consternation that his shivering persisted. Why was the house so cold? It wasn't even autumn yet. Danny just frowned to himself and went back into his room, digging through his closet until he found an old Dumpty Humpty jacket. He quickly pulled it on and zipped it up as he made his way downstairs, where he was met by an unusual sight.

Jazz was alone at the breakfast table, and she didn't seem at all happy about it. Danny wondered if perhaps his parents had taken his advice to heart and had slept in, but a sudden clanging sound from below confirmed that they were simply in the lab. Strange; they normally made an effort to at least _sit_ at the table every morning. Danny decided to question Jazz over it.

"Hey, what's keeping Mom and Dad? They got a new invention in the works or something?"

"No," The older girl scoffed into her book, "They're portal thing started working, so I doubt we'll be seeing much of them for a few days."

The girl continued on in what was most likely a rant against their parents' 'hobby', but it was all lost on Danny, who turned to look toward the lab. Something about the portal made him think back to his dream. To thoughts of dark spaces and electric shocks that seemed to plague him even after he was fully awake. Curiosity once again claiming him, the boy found himself walking down the basement stairs and stepping into the lab.

The black void that once was the Fenton Portal had been overtaken by a swirling green vortex, which cast its eerie light over the rest of the lab. The Fenton parents were standing before it, speaking in quick, low voices to one another. Danny knew they only ever spoke like that when they were excited or confused about something. This time it seemed like both. Danny felt a strange sort of pull toward the portal, but figured it must be due to his curiosity over it. He came to stand behind his parents, pulling his eyes off the hypnotic green light to look up at them.

"Hey, how'd you guys finally get it to work?"

"We're not entirely sure," Maddie replied slowly, not bothering to shift her calculating gaze from the machine to her son. "It was like this when we came down just a few hours ago. Strange; I don't know how it could've started _itself_. Hmm, we'll just have to run some tests, I suppose."

Her tone made it clear she was talking more to herself than to Danny, and so the teen just let it be, deciding that it didn't matter how the mysterious machine began to work, as long as it meant his parents could finally stop being so stressed over it.

With one last look back at the portal, Danny left the lab, choosing to ignore the strange weight in his legs as he ascended the stairs.

* * *

Danny's thoughts drifted as he walked through the halls of Casper High, paying no mind to the shoulders he bumped into and glares he received as he made his way to his locker. He thought he heard catches of conversation about the ghost attack the day before. Seemed most students were reluctant to believe an actual ghost had been haunting the school and had wreaked havoc in the kitchen. Danny couldn't blame them. _He_ wouldn't have believed the story if it weren't for the fact that his parents were designing a containment chamber for the lunch lady ghost at this very moment. They still had her held captive in the Fenton Thermos, one of their only working inventions, and were practically glowing in delight at their first ever captured ghost.

Danny was rounding a corner when a dreaded voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, Fentina!"

_'Oh no, please, I really don't want to deal with him right now_.' Danny thought to himself as his eyes widened. After yesterday he was in no mood for Dash's bullying. His instincts screamed at him to hide, but even in the condensed throng of students, Danny knew it would be impossible to keep out of Dash's sight. Still, he had to try.

Pressing himself against the wall, Danny stood frozen as the pounding footsteps of the quarterback drew closer. He couldn't help but close his eyes and wait for the inevitable when Dash came into view, inches from him.

"Where'd you go, dweeb? You can't hide from me!"

With that, the blond-haired teen stalked further down the hall, leaving Danny standing in silent shock. How had Dash not seen him!? He was right there! The hairs on Danny's arms stood on end as he registered a low buzzing sensation. It was very familiar, though he couldn't place it, and it seemed to echo from his bones. With a gasp, the feeling vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Danny found himself suddenly thrown to the side by a taller student's body as they crashed into him. They both stared at each other for a moment, confusion clearly written on the other's face, before the student grabbed their dropped backpack and left with a terse "Watch where you're going!"

Danny's own confused thoughts were halted as he looked around himself and found that he was nearly the only one in the hall. He was going to be late! Danny raced down the hallway toward where his locker stood. Once he reached it, he began fumbling with the lock. If he was late to Mr Lancer's class, especially after yesterday, he'd never hear the end of it. Lancer had made it abundantly clear how thin the ice Danny and his friends found themselves on was, and even one minor slip up could ensure their parents receiving a phonecall. _That_ was something Danny wanted to avoid at all costs.

Danny messed up the combination, and had to start over again. _'Dammit! These stupid combination locks_...' The boy's frustration mounted, and the air around him grew colder, causing Danny to begin shivering moreso beneath his jacket. _'Man why is it so cold today!'_

Danny's fingers trembled on the lock, and the sound of the bell ringing out had him dropping it with a low cry of defeat. Danny pressed his hands against his locker, head bowed, and hoped Lancer would be forgiving.

Danny's forehead collided with the cold metal of his locker, and the teen's mind swam in pain and confusion as he looked up, only to have panic spike through him. His arms! They...they were in his locker. No, no they were _through_ his locker! Feeling a sense of deja vu coupled with horror, Danny quickly yanked his hands back toward his chest as he stood straight in the empty hallway, silence broken by his quickening breaths as he stared down at his arms. They looked normal...but how? And why?

All of a sudden, Danny's dream came back to him. But no, it wasn't a dream. He remembered. Remembered the lab, the portal, the light that had filled his world with pain, only to leave him in empty blackness. And he remembered...

Mouth hanging open as ragged breaths tore through him, Danny lifted a trembling hand and pressed it tightly over his chest. He was breathing. He knew he was breathing. He could feel the ache in his lungs, the thudding of his heart. But why...why couldn't his hand detect any sign of life? There was no beating to be found underneath his palm, no pulse under his fingers as he checked his wrist and then his neck and then his other wrist just to be sure. No. No this couldn't be happening. He couldn't have _no_ heartbeat. That was just impossible. Without a heartbeat he'd be de-

Danny felt his knees go weak, and moisture gathered in his eyes as his mind raced. He mentally shook his head in denial. He wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead! He just wasn't feeling his pulse because he was doing it wrong. That was it. He'd just go to the nurse and-

_'No, bad idea. What if...what if there really is something wrong with me? What if they find no pulse? What then.'_

Danny felt his shoulder hit the lockers, but paid little mind to his surrounding as his world collapsed down upon itself. There was just no way this was real. He couldn't be dead. Because if he was dead that would mean he was a ghost. And he _couldn't_ be a ghost because ghosts weren't people. They were things; entities with no feeling and no emotions. _He_ could certainly feel. He could feel the fear plunging through him, and the cold air as he continued to shiver more violently than before. He could even see his own breath as it floated out in front of his face, proof that he was indeed drawing air into his lungs. He couldn't be dead. Dead things didn't breathe.

Forcing the logic of those thoughts into the forefront of his mind, Danny felt himself slowly calming down, and his visible breath seemed to vanish. He didn't linger on the fact, though, putting forth all his concentration on one single train of thought.

_'I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive...'_

He chanted this to himself, silently mouthing the words as he drifted down a few more hallways before coming to stand outside his homeroom door. As if in a trance, he opened the door, stepping inside. His daze was immediately shattered by the voice of one Mr Lancer.

"Fenton! Do you know what time it is? That's yet _another _tardy for you."

Eyes on the floor, Danny mutely moved to his desk near the back. He felt a bit lightheaded as he sat down, grasping desperately at the words he needed to repeat to stay calm.

_'I'm alive I'm alive...'_

His teacher's voice barely broke through the walls Danny was rapidly constructing around his mind to keep out the white panic that buzzed just outside its barriers.

"Mr Fenton, where is your textbook?"

(Hope you guys are enjoying this so far! It's a little intense emotionally, but things should relax a bit soon. Don't be afraid to leave a comment! They really get me motivated!)


	3. Chapter 3

(Spent more time on this chapter, so I'm much happier with how it came out. I hope it shows. Please enjoy, and don't be afraid to give feedback, it helps to keep me inspired!)

Chapter 3: Sound the Hunt

Danny made it all the way out of school and to the end of the block before he realised he was being called. Taking his eyes off the sidewalk, Danny turned around to find Sam and Tucker running to catch up with him, worried looks on their faces. When they reached him they took a moment to catch their breathes. Tucker was the first to speak up.

"Dude, are you feeling okay?"

"Guys, I'm fine." Danny kept his tone light and his face neutral. He really,_ really _didn't want to tell his friends what had been swirling around in his brain like a vortex the entire school day. Classes had passed in a blurred haze; he hadn't even slept during study hall like usual.

Sam's voice was filled with concern as she spoke, "Danny, we're worried. I mean, we've seen you out of it before but not_ that _out of it."

"Yeah man, you stood in the lunch line without actually getting lunch."

"And when the final bell rang you just left us in the dust. You didn't even stop by your locker to get your things."

"You know we have homework, right?"

Danny watched them go back and forth, and the legitimate worry on their faces made him almost tell them what had occurred yesterday. Almost. He just couldn't. He loved his friends; sometimes he was convinced he loved them more than his own family. But there was just no way he could tell them that he might be a gho-

No, he didn't even want to think that thought. Thinking about it only made him start to shake again, and he'd just gone an entire day in school barely holding himself together. There was no way he was letting himself collapse now. Besides, he needed to get home, and fast. There was something he needed to see. Something that would confirm that this wasn't all just some dream, or him finally going insane.

"Relax, you two, I just stayed up way too late playing Doomed and I'm maxed out because of it. I'll see you both tomorrow."

With that, the raven-haired boy sped off down the next block, not wanting to give his friends time to talk with him further, or worse, ask to go to his house.

Said friends stared after him as he practically jogged down the sidewalk, feeling put off. Tucker suddenly had a thought, and turned to Sam as she watched Danny disappear around a street corner.

"Hey wait, I was on Doomed until like two in the morning last night. I didn't see Danny get online at all."

Sam didn't respond. She wanted to believe that they were just being paranoid, but Danny had never behaved this way; at least, not toward _them_. When something was bothering him Sam and Tucker had always been the ones he confided in. His brush-off was very unsettling, but seeing as there was nothing they could do, both just agreed to talk it over with Danny the next day and headed for Sam's house.

* * *

The sounds of his parents tinkering with inventions downstairs was comforting to Danny. At least one thing was normal in this messed up day. Danny made sure to keep his steps quiet as he ascended to the second floor, not wanting anyone to know he was home, though he wasn't really sure why.

Once in his room, Danny made sure to lock his door and look around his room, suddenly paranoid that there were hidden cameras spying on him. He mentally shook his head, though. That was a ridiculous thought. If that were the case, he'd definitely have been confronted by his parents sooner.

Slinging his backpack onto his bed, Danny moved to stand in front of his closet, staring at its closed door and concentrating on his breathing. Unfortunately, thinking about his rapidly increasing breath rate only reminded Danny of the fact that he had no pulse to show for it at all. So closing his eyes, Danny reached out for the door handle, slowly opening it and his eyes to peer into...his normal looking closet. Danny felt a jolt for a moment. Maybe he really had been dreaming after all? But then his mood came crashing down when he remembered how he'd hidden the body from being seen, even by himself.

Reaching out, Danny began taking out boxes and stacking them on the floor. As he removed the third box, Danny nearly dropped it as black tufts of hair came into view.

_'Oh God this is actually happening.'_

Danny's first instinct to was to call out for his mom, like he used to when he was a child afraid of the monsters under the bed, but his throat constricted around the word. Danny set down the box and stared at the hair, just barely peeking from behind the fourth box, and Danny was seriously considering just putting the boxes back and pretending he didn't know what lay behind them. But his ever-present curiosity won over his cowardice as he reached out and pulled away the fourth box, allowing a low moan to escape his mouth at the sight of his own face. It was slumped down against its chest, skin appearing almost grey in the dim light. The eyes were firmly closed but the lips lay just barely parted, and Danny almost expected the body to sit up and look at him, like in the horror movies.

When that didn't happen after several seconds of staring, Danny moved closer, sitting down just inside the closet doorway, two boxes separating himself from his previous body. Danny found himself feeling strangely calm as he looked on at his unmoving other self. It was almost...peaceful? No, that couldn't be right. Danny couldn't assign a word to what he was feeling, but it certainly wasn't the petrifying revulsion he had anticipated all that day.

Ans so it was that Danny sat cross-legged on his floor and watched his corpse silently, falling into a strange sort of meditation until the sound of his mother calling up that dinner was ready snapped him back to reality.

_'Huh, that was weird.'_

Danny stood up, confused at the ache in his legs until he glanced toward his alarm clock to discover he'd been sitting there for over two hours! Okay, now the panic was coming back. Had he actually stared at a dead body for that long and not noticed? Why!? Danny pushed all these thoughts from his head as his mother called out a second time. He scrambled to put all the boxes back in place, and wondered at the slight regret that tore at him; the very same regret he'd felt come over at him when he was down in the lab that morning.

But Danny didn't want to linger on all these thoughts. They just made him freak out and he couldn't afford that. Better to just act normal for everyone and figure it out later. Yes, that was for the best, he decided.

Closing the closet door, Danny raced downstairs to join his family for dinner.

* * *

Scientists believe that the strange falling sensation we experience when we are on the edge of sleep is simply our brain panicking over our body's drop in heartrate as we relax. In its hasty attempt to wake us up from what it sees as death, it offers a quick scare to mentally jolt us back into the waking world.

Unfortunately the falling sensation Danny was about to experience was not caused by his brain, but rather, the sound of his sister knocking upon his bedroom door, signalling the start of a new school day.

_'Well, at least it's Friday...' _Was Danny's first coherent thought as he rubbed his eyes, opening them to stare up at...the ceiling which was much closer than it usually was. Looking about himself, Danny had but a moment to panic over the fact that he was floating high above his own bed, nearly touching the ceiling, before he felt himself come crashing down upon the old mattress.

Danny quickly scrambled onto his feet, wincing at the soreness blooming on his back and hoping his family didn't hear him nearly breaking his bed. He quickly went about his daily routine, keeping his eyes fixed upward as he rummaged through his closet for clothes to wear, once again donning his jacket. Winter sure seemed to be coming earlier this year. He then walked downstairs, focusing on keeping his alarm at this morning's wake up call hidden behind his usual bored and tired expression.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, Jazz, the only one at the table, seemed to zero in on him. Danny tried not to look guilty, but before his mind could wonder too far, his sister was already speaking to him in an admonishing tone.

"Really, Danny, you're going to be late to school at this rate. I thought I was going to have to go back up there and drag you out of bed myself."

"Wh...what are you talking about?" Danny stood in the kitchen archway; that wasn't what he had expected her to say, what with the accusatory way she was looking at him.

"Hello? I've only been calling for you to wake up three times already! You do know I have more important things to do than play babysitter, Danny. And why didn't your alarm go off? That thing can usually be heard all the way in _my_ room."

That was right, Danny didn't hear his annoying alarm clock this morning...Danny immediately turned and began heading toward his room, Jazz calling out to his retreating back.

"You're going to be late if you don't leave now Danny and I'm _not _driving you!"

Danny didn't bother to answer as he opened his bedroom door and headed straight for his nightstand, atop which sat his alarm clock. Holding it up, Danny's eyebrows knit together in confusing as he looked down at its black face, devoid of the red digital numbers which usually glared out at him in headache-inducing neon. It was dead, completely shut off. Grasping hold of the wire, Danny followed it down to the outlet, where it rested, still plugged in.

_'Hmm, why would it be off it's plugged in?' _Danny thought to himself as he repeatedly pressed the power button to turn it back on, and when that failed to work, pressed all the buttons. It was no use, for some odd reason it seemed his alarm clock was broken, and Danny couldn't shake the feeling that it has something to do with him floating while he slept.

The sound of the front door signaled to Danny that he was indeed going to be late for school. Jazz was always late to school, but that was due to her guidance counselor status, which granted her a free first period with which to sit in her small private office room and talk with troubled students. As her brother, Danny found himself in that office enough times to resent his sister's interest in psychology as well as her constant need to butt into his life. Ah well, at least he had a nice quiet walk to look forward to. He always enjoyed his morning walks to school, and him being behind schedule meant Sam and Tucker wouldn't be in their usual spot to meet him halfway. As much as it pained him, he was grateful for the solitude.

Danny opted to just push all his worries out of his mind for the time being so that he wouldn't be a giant ball of stress by the time he reach the Casper High front steps. He'd have all weekend to ponder over these strange happenings; he mentally planned to go onto the internet to do some research, and if that didn't work, asking veiled hypothetical questions to his mother would most certainly result in answers. Feeling a peace of mind coming over him at these thoughts, Danny let out a long sigh, pondering at how his breath seemed to ghost out in front of him. Surely it couldn't be _that_ cold.

With a sense of dread and familiarity coming over him, Danny turned just in time to see a bright beam of light heading toward him from above. Danny threw himself forward, barely feeling the scrape of concrete under his chin and palms as the beam exploded just inches from him, causing his feet to burn in his shoes, and he quickly scrambled away from the sensation. He stood shakily, gaping down at the green fire which burned in a small patch upon the sidewalk where he had been standing moments ago. It soon flitted out of existence, and Danny looked around himself for the source of this strange flame, mind and body buzzing. In fact, now that he felt it, Danny couldn't take his mind off the weird vibration seeming to emanate from his core. His bones seemed to echo out, and Danny realised that he had felt this before.

His thoughts were brought to a halt as his eyes landed on a shape in the sky, silhouetted against the rising sun. He could barely make it out, but it appeared human in shape, and it was pointing at him. No, it was firing at him. Danny watched in fright as another beam of green light quickly grew in size, heading right for him. Thinking fast, Danny began sprinting down the street, the way he had come; he was only two blocks from his house. His parents would know what to do.

His attacker seemed to understand his motive, and suddenly Danny's path was blocked by a tirade of flame. Skidding to a halt, Danny turned and scrambled down a narrow alleyway, overturning trashcans in his panic, feeling much like an animal being hunted. Coming out the other side, Danny made his way quietly down the street, keeping in the shadow of the buildings. Maybe if he shook this creep off his trail, he could sneak back into his house and warn his parents.

Finally reaching the end of the block, Danny surveyed the skies, and finding them empty, began to run swiftly across the street, making a diagonal path toward his home, which lay toward the right end of his street. He was just setting his foot upon the first step of his front steps when two large, cold hands seized hold of him under his arms, lifting him and rapidly ascending into the sky. The altitude coupled with the speed at which his feet had left the ground was causing Danny's vision to fail, and he could only look mutely down at the houses and cars, white and black dots dancing before his eyes on streets below.

"So, this is the new ghost I have heard tell of. I'll admit, I was expecting more of a challenge."

Startled by the low voice coming from behind him, Danny craned his neck, green flame the only thing he could clearly see. An eyebrow raised against a shiny white forehead, and the voice was back, melodious in its delight at the obvious fright it was causing Danny.

"Wish to gaze upon your hunter, child? Fear not, before this is over you will surely know who wrought your doom upon you."

Danny finally found his voice, though it was much higher than he would have liked. "W-who are you!? Why are you doing this? Put me down!"

"One question at a time, whelp." Came the reply, calm and serene, as though they were sitting casually around a table having lunch. "I am Skulker! Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, and for that you should feel honored, for I plan to dine on whatever remains of you after my contract has been completed. As for the why, let's just say that even ghosts have uses for large sums of money. Now, concerning your request, I would be glad to oblige."

With that, the cold, hard hands vanished from around Danny, and the teen felt nothing but air and the ever-familiar falling sensation as he plummeted back toward the street blow. Oh no, this was not good. This was not good at all. Flashes of himself splatted across the road like a run over cat flitted through Danny's mind, and the boy closed his eyes and crossed his arms before his face in a vain attempt at protection.

_'Don't fall don't fall no NO NO!'_

Danny's thoughts repeated in this fashion for several seconds before it dawned on him that he was no longer falling, but neither had he met an untimely end upon the ground.

Looking down with one cracked eye, Danny gasped as he beheld the sidewalk directly below him. Five feet directly below, to be exact. He was floating once more, only this time he was wide awake. Hoping he wasn't about to plummet any second, Danny uncrossed his arms and stretched them out hesitantly before him. Nothing seemed to be holding him up. Danny remembered that whether in his parents' research notes or on some old cartoon, ghost were always depicted as flying around. If he were a ghost, did that mean he could fly?

Danny recalled the astronaut training videos he had watched obsessively over the internet, and how trainees had to learn to move about in zero gravity. Calling upon the memory of the techniques they had used, Danny slowly maneuvered himself into an upright position. Feeling a bit top-heavy, Danny wobbled in the air for a second before gaining full balance. Fear was now forgotten in favor of amazement and a sense of accomplishment.

"Well well, seems I may have underestimated my target."

Jolted back to reality by the voice coming from above, Danny looked up to see the silhouette of Skulker, arms crossed as he gazed down upon the teenager.

"I'll be sure not to make that mistake twice." A shadowed arm raised, and Danny let instinct and the pulse in his bones take over as the creature above him fired another beam at him. Danny wasn't really sure how to describe the feeling of flying. It wasn't like falling, but neither was it like swimming. He felt the scrape of the air sting at his chin as he raced down the street, admittedly not going very fast. Behind him he could hear several explosions, and dared not turn around for fear of losing the delicate control he held over this new ability. Feeling boxed in by all these building, a primal part of Danny's mind which he never knew he possessed called out for him to ascend, to go higher into the sky. Obeying the silent command without a second thought, Danny's arms pushed off from the air below and he quickly gained height. Luckily it was slow enough that his vision didn't blur like before. Part of him wished for that speed, though, so that he might have a better chance to evade his attacker, who was continuing in his barrage of explosives, which flew past Danny, causing damage to anything they hit.

Looking down, Danny realised with a start that people had begun to gather in their yards and at their windows, drawn by the noise. Not wanting to be recognised, Danny threw the hood of his jacket over his head, pulling the strings until most of his face was hidden from view. And that was when Danny learned the mistake of stopping, even for a second, when being hunted. A large blast exploded on contact with his left leg, and Danny's ears rang with the sound of it. The force of the assault sent him spinning wildly into the air, his vision doubling. His mind raced, berating him for this mistake, knowing it would be his last as Skulker was surely firing another round his way.

But the expected blast never came, and as Danny regained his balance and his senses, he heard several more explosions, but none of which were near him. Looking across the vast space of the empty air between him and Skulker, Danny saw that his attention seemed occupied with maneuvering around fires shot by two figures on the ground. His mom and dad! Relief flooded him at the sight of the two, small and barely recognisable from their distance on the ground, but no one else in Amity Park had the firearms capable of taking down a ghost. Danny nearly began flying toward them, but common sense stopped him, and so Danny hovered in the air, watching Skulker battle with his parents, grateful now that he_ had _pulled his hoodie over his face.

Speaking of, Danny looked down at his left leg, and felt his breathe freeze as he took in the sight of his singed, torn pants leg and shoe, and the large chunk of skin missing from his ankle, bone barely exposed. Blood dripped freely from the would and down toward the street below. Thinking to get out of there before his parents turned there attention toward him, Danny quickly made his way out of the area, finding an alley a few blocks down and lowering himself into it. Looking around to make sure no one had seen him, Danny sat down upon the grimy concrete, wincing at the burning in his leg, as well as his hands and chin. Peeling back his jeans with his fingers, he stared down at the wound.

_'How the hell am I going to explain this to Mom and Dad?'_

He groaned aloud, feeling utterly stupid and helpless in this situation. Deciding that there was no way he could go to school like this, Danny made a decision. He would go home, show the injury, explain everything, and just throw himself at his parents' mercy. They'd understand, right? They were his _parents_. So what if they hated ghosts with a passion. So what if that same obsessive hate had ruled over their lives since before Danny was born. They'd understand...right?

_'Only one way to find out...'_

Danny stood up, putting most of his weight on his right leg as he limped out of the alley and down the street, heading for home. After a few blocks, Danny began to feel the pain from his injuries less and less, chalking it up to shock. There was no way he _couldn't_ be in shock after what just happened. After fifteen minutes of limping, Danny found himself coming upon his house. Raising his eyes from the ground, Danny wasn't surprised to see the Fenton ghost shield in place, casting its green glow over the street. Every time there was a ghost in the area, or his parents suspected there was one, up the ghost shield went and up went Danny's status as the child of the local freaks.

With a sigh Danny headed for the front steps for the second time that morning. This time, no hands came from behind to pluck him up. No, instead Danny found himself being knocked back as though he had crashed face-first into a wall. Rubbing his nose, Danny looked in front of him in bewilderment. Taking a step forward, he cautiously stretched a hand out, waiting to feel the familiar tingling sensation of moving through the ghost shield. Instead his palm landed flat upon its green surface, and Danny stood in silence, hypnotized by the low vibration which flowed out from the shield's surface and into Danny's hand. It was the very same vibration that had been inside the Portal, as well as inside Danny. Could the three somehow be related?

Realising suddenly that he was standing in front of his house, injured and unable to come inside, Danny turned and quickly ran back up the street, taking safety in the shrinking shadows. He nearly hit himself over the head.

_'You're a ghost. You can't go through ghost shields, genius. Great, how am I supposed to get back into the house?'_

Not knowing what else to do, Danny began walking back in the direction of school. Wait...walking! Looking down at his leg, Danny was surprised to find that the bone was no longer visible, and the wound itself seemed smaller. Was he healing somehow? Was this another weird ghost ability? Man, how was he supposed to keep up with all this? The bleeding had even stopped. In fact, now that he though about it, Danny's eyes trailed up the sidewalk he had come down not minutes before. Not a single drop of red could be seen. How was that possible? He was _sure_ he'd been trailing blood; how could it all just vanish?

Knowing that there was still no way he was going to school with a huge rip in his jeans and a burnt shoe, not counting how late he must be by now, Danny began walking slowly toward the park at the centre of town, planning on sitting down and enjoying the quiet for a few hours. That was all he wanted by this point. Silence and solitude.

Lucky for Danny, he caught neither sight nor sound of the creature that had attacked him earlier, and ended up dozing off on a bench under the shade of a tree, arms bundled against his chest to fend off the cold air.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Shedding Some Light

Danny was unable to stay asleep for too long, awoken by noises or imagined shadows flitting behind his eyelids, causing them to snap open. Four hours had passed since Danny's encounter with his attacker, Skulker, but the fourteen-year-old was still on high alert. He lay on his right side, back against the hard wood of a park bench, listening to the occasional person pass by, their shoes crunching on the concrete. He reached into his pocket and opened his cellphone, once again grateful that it and his backpack had been undamaged in the earlier encounter. Staring at the small screen, Danny sighed mentally; another text message, this one from Tucker.

His friends had been sending him texts from school all day long, but Danny just couldn't think of how to reply. Should he make an excuse, tell them he'd stayed home sick? Or should he stick to the truth; he never lied to Tucker and Sam. Never. They were the two people he was always completely truthful with, and lying to them was a strange and foreign concept. He'd barely been able to shrug their worry off yesterday, and he didn't know how he was going to be able to do it again, especially now that it was confirmed he was...well, not alive anymore.

It should've concerned Danny that the thought of his death came so easy to him now. Just yesterday he'd been petrified at the realisation. Now he simply felt _nothing_. He was neither panicked or sickened, only resigned.

_'Boy, wouldn't Jazz just _love_ to psychoanalyze me right now.'_

A small smile grew over the teen's face at the thought, and Danny put his phone away for the tenth time that day, choosing once again to leave the text message unopened.

* * *

Danny let his shoulders drop in relief as he came upon his house's street; the ghost shield had been dropped. He'd decided to leave for home a little early, not wanting to risk running into Sam and Tucker on his way.

Now that he could actually enter his own home, Danny quickly ran up the front steps and latched onto the door handle, as though it were a trap and the shield would spring up any second to keep him out once more.

Jazz always stayed at school late, so Danny knew he'd be safe from questions as to why he was home early. All he had to do was sneak upstairs to his room and hop on the computer. His plan from that morning still sounded like a good one. He had a lot of questions, and research was the best solution. But first, Danny remembered, he had to get out of these jeans and then covertly stash them somewhere. The burnt shoes weren't too mangled, and Danny could make an excuse if his parents saw, though he doubted they'd ever notice. But the jeans, well, they were scorched and ripped to hell, hanging in denim tatters down his completely healed leg. At least _that_ was one less thing he had to worry about.

Taking off his shoes, Danny quickly removed the ruined pants, before walking to his closet and opening the door. Without thinking, he did what most teenage slackers tend to do; he threw the jeans into the back of the closet. Freezing in the act of closing his closet door, Danny's eyes went side as he remembered the skeleton, so to speak, secreted away inside.

Smacking his forehead, Danny debated over whether it was worth it to exert the miniscule energy needed to dig around and retrieve the clothing item. In the end, he decided to just leave it be, for one because he was afraid of going into a two-hour-long trance like before, and second, he was just lazy like that.

Mentally shrugging to himself, Danny closed the closet door and walked over to sit before his computer, not caring to pull on a new pair of pants. It wasn't like anyone in that house hadn't seen him in boxers before.

Swiveling his mouse, the old computer hummed to life, and after a quick password Danny was off into the wide web, typing into search engines and pulling up links. Sadly, within the first twenty minutes he felt heavily discouraged. All he'd come across so far with all his questions were paranormal dramas, creepypastas and porn. Really weird porn.

A loud clang rang out from below, and Danny decided to put the internet search on hold for now and see if he could get a few answers from his mother. He just hoped she didn't go into a tangent that kept them both down there most of the night.

Upon entering the lab, Danny saw that both his parents sat on opposite ends, Jack bent over some metal contraption, while Maddie seemed to be looking over blueprints.

Two metal doors were closed over the Portal, but that didn't stop Danny from picking up the low hum it gave off, seeming to seek him out and pull him toward it. Danny turned away from the large device and walked determinedly toward his mother. He had a feeling that he really shouldn't go up to the Portal while his parents were around; something spooky and unexplainable was bound to happen if he did.

Danny cleared his throat lightly, as he stood beside his mother; his voice, though soft, echoed off the silent walls as he spoke. "Uh, so, what're you working on?"

"I am a ghost. Fear me."

Danny's head whipped toward the new voice in the room, but all he saw was his father, who leapt from his stool, hands raised as he shouted happily, "Hey it works! I think."

"What works, dear?" Maddie never took her eyes off her papers as she spoke across the room at her husband, who turned to her and Danny, holding aloft a metal square with a screen and two flashing lightbulbs.

"I call it the Ghost Gabber. It takes the strange noises ghosts make and translates them into words you and I use everyday. And it works! Yes!"

"How can it work if there's no ghost in here, Jack?"

This seemed to give the large man pause, and his grin lowered into a pondering frown as he looked down at his invention. With a few mutters to himself he turned and resumed his seat, picking up a screwdriver and fumbling with the machine.

Danny felt a nervous tingle spread through his stomach. He had to mentally reassure himself that there was absolutely no way his parents could know he was a ghost. He looked the same as always; he walked, talked, ate and breathed.

_'They aren't suspicious in the slightest, so will you stop looking so guilty and just start talking!'_

"Hey, Mom...do you-"

"I am a ghost. Fear me."

"Hah! See, it works! Man I wish I could've had this finished when those two spooks came flyin' around earlier. We coulda used it to ask them questions, and then blasted at them while they were distracted!"

Maddie was either too absorbed in her work to respond, or simply didn't care enough to. But Danny definitely did, nerves spiking anew as he walked toward his father, attempting to keep his tone curious and not terrified.

"Ghosts? There were ghosts here?"

Jack, turning to grin at his son's question, was all too happy to answer, swiveling on his stool and forgetting his invention for the moment.

"You bet ya, Danny! Two of 'em! Can you believe it? We haven't seen an actual ghost in years, much less _two_. It's a shame we couldn't bag 'em; shot at the big one for a while, but they both ended up givin' us the slip. The slimey slippery spooks...Ah well, your mom's coming up with a new device that should really help us in keeping the city free of any ghosts."

Danny couldn't stop himself from asking the question that was crashing against the back of his teeth like a battering ram. "Did you, uh, get a good look at them? Y'know, so I can know what to look for when I'm out?"

"Good thinking, son. Well...actually, we hardly got a good look at them at all. It was still morning, you see, and the sun was rising up behind them. We couldn't really make out any details, other than the fact that the big one looked kinda green, and it was definitely firing at us. The second one was really small and far away, and it flew off pretty early in the fight, the coward. Huh, knew who it was messing with."

"Say you _did _manage to hit one of those ghosts with your ecto gun, would that ghost be able to heal itself if it got away?" Danny's plan to slowly work his questions into idle talk had vanished, and he wanted nothing more than to get some quick answers and then get the hell out of the lab, which was beginning to feel more and more intimidating as Danny took in the sight of the various anti-ghost weapons and plans laid out everywhere. It had just dawned on him for the first time since the accident; he was a ghost now. These weapons and machines could do things to him, painful things. He'd certainly be using a healthy dose of trepidation any time he ventured down there from that point on.

While these thoughts curled and circled in Danny's brain, his father appeared to be thinking to himself as he finished inspecting the wires in his machine, turning it on again as he spoke.

"Hmm, well, our research isn't concrete when it comes to things like that. Which is why I really wish we could've gotten at least one of those spooks. We could've tested your theory, son!" He gave Danny a pat over the shoulder with his large hand, "But from what we _have_ gathered, it does seem likely that a ghost could regenerate itself, as long as it had the energy to. It's what makes them so darn hard to destroy; but don't you worry, once your mother's finished, any ghost who thinks it can skulk around here'll be chalk. There' won't be anything left to regenerate, hah!"

That definitely wasn't the answer he'd been hoping for, and he still had several questions left. But his mother seemed caught up in her own work for the time being, and a panic had settled somewhere deep in Danny, growing steadily. It felt as if he were a small animal, watching a trap close in around him. He felt caged, and his instincts were screaming for him to get out. Get out before it was too late!

_'Too late for what? Nothing's going to happen! It's just my parents, calm down!'_

Despite his rational side, a new part of Danny's mind simply refused to accept his logic, and repeatedly bid him to fly from that place, fast. He wasn't quite sure what to do about these new thoughts and urges, but was wholly unable to resist them for long, especially when even the rational part of his brain was growing afraid as well. He just wanted out of that death-trap of a lab; screw his questions.

Feeling defeated, Danny turned from his parents, heading toward the stairway as he called lowly over his shoulder. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Fear me."

"Darnit! What's wrong with this contraption!"

* * *

The light streaming in through his window stung at Danny's eyes as he cracked them open on a bright Saturday morning. This time he wasn't surprised to find himself floating; had been expecting it. To his awe, instead of plummeting, he slowly drifted like a leaf down to his bed, landing softly as he stretch out. He could definitely get used to waking up like that. It reminded him of the astronauts, and how they slept and woke up every day in space. It was like he had something in common with them now, which made him incredibly happy.

Turning his head to the right, his smile lowered a bit as he took in the sight of his still malfunctioning alarm clock. Yet another question that remained unanswered. He'd tried everything short of throwing it against the wall, but it was completely dead it seemed. Like him, heh.

Smile back in place at the bad joke, Danny sat up and moved toward his computer. It was by now an ingrained habit, and without even being fully awake, Danny was logged on and loading his latest save file for Doomed. Weekends had long since been dedicated to the playing of this addictive game, ever since its release five months ago. Rumors of a sequel were floating around on the internet, and Danny, Sam and Tucker planned on defeating every level and getting every achievement by the time it came along.

As expected, Sam was already online. Her parents woke her up early every morning, even on weekends. Danny was grateful Jazz wasn't that nuts.

He quickly typed a message to her as his avatar ventured out into the wide, chaotic world of Doomed. Receiving a reply, answering his question as to where she was, he quickly directed his character toward the location. Thankfully it wasn't too far away. Sam always idled around on the game until Danny got on. Tucker wouldn't be on for at least an hour yet. He never could resist staying up late into the night on the internet, especially when there was no school the next day.

Shivering, Danny rose from his seat, eyes remaining locked on the computer screen, as he felt around on the floor for where he'd thrown his jacket before climbing into bed last night. Once he had it he hurriedly put it on and zipped it up, resuming his seat and continuing toward the Tessellated Tavern, one of the many locations that players went to when they just wanted to chat online with friends.

* * *

Sam sat at her desk, the only lights in the room coming from her computer screen and the little skull Christmas lights Tucker and Danny had gotten her last Christmas. They remained stapled to her walls year around.

Suddenly, a little green light next to a username appeared in one of her windows, and Sam felt relief and anxiety war inside her. It was Danny; he was online, the same time he usually was. The familiarity of routine comforted her, as did his immediate message to her, inquiring her location. She'd been hanging around one of the taverns found in the game. This one's black and white design tended to attract the darker members of the game, and Sam often enjoyed spending her time waiting for her friend amongst fellow goths, occasionally joining in on the conversation.

After typing out an answer, Sam sat her character down at one of the tables and waited, mind going over exactly what to say to Danny when he arrived. Thursday afternoon had been worrying, and it couldn't just be brushed aside. At her house she and Tucker had both agreed to talk with Danny that Friday. But then the teen hadn't shown up, and Sam and Tuckers' subtle texts during classes remained unanswered.

She wanted to confront him, to ask what could possibly be bothering him that he wouldn't tell his friends about, but she didn't want to come across as being dramatic. Part of her mind assured her again and again that she was concerned for nothing. That Danny was just having an off day. But if that were the case, why didn't he just say that? Why the paper-thin excuses and brush-offs? They'd all had bad days, plenty of them, so why did this one feel so different to her. It was the way he'd stared hard ahead of himself the entire day, as though he were concentrating on some fixed point. The way he drifted through the halls, class to class, barely saying a word to her or Tucker. And then the lunch line. He'd just grabbed a tray, walked down the line, and then went to their table, empty tray in hand. Worst was how he'd practically ran from them as soon as the final bell rang. It wasn't like him at all, and Sam racked her brain for a casual way to bring it up as Danny's familiar avatar entered through the doorway.

As he sat across from her, she settled on a simple question, one that could give her answers without seeming like she was prying. Her fingers typed quickly.

"You do know we have Biology homework, right? You went and forgot your textbook Thursday. What was your hurry, anyway; late for a dentist appointment?"

Thankfully his reply seemed equally casual, though evading. "Haha very funny. By the way, do you think I could come over and borrow your book to get it finished. I'd rather not have Mr. Falluca glare at me in that way he does on Monday. That's a crap way to start the week."

"Sure, why don't you come over now. Tuck won't be up for a while. When I talked to him last night he said something about a new PDA being announced. I'm sure he was up all night gushing about it with his online geek friends."

"A new one? Didn't they just release a new one two months ago?"

Ignoring her request, it seemed. Sam frowned to herself as she casually reiterated her wish for Danny to come over. If he were here in the flesh she could see for herself that he was alright. It would also make it much easier to question him in a setting where he couldn't simply log off.

"Why don't you come over and I'll hook up the big monitor. My parents got the frozen yogurt machine fixed so we can pig out."

"You guys get more fudge for the toppings?"

"Yyyep."

"Deal."

Sam smiled to herself. She knew the yogurt would get Danny over; he had a weakness for frozen yogurt, especially when he'd thoroughly drowned it in fudge. It was the reason the machine had broken in the first place.

The light beside Danny's username dimmed, and a moment later his avatar was no longer sitting across from hers. Sam didn't panic, though, knowing that this only meant Danny had signed off in order to come over to her house. She decided to do the same, exiting out of her game and moving over to the other side of her room.

A large tv screen took up nearly the entire wall, with two cushioned gaming chairs sitting before it. She busied herself with powering everything up and signing once more into Doomed, using one chair's built in controller. She appeared again at the small table, using game controls to turn her green light white, indicating to all other players that she was in standby mode.

Once that was finished the teen walked downstairs and into her family's large kitchen. There was just about every cooking device imaginable, what with her mother's obsession with baking shows. And literally every surface was decorated in some flowery or pastel pattern, causing Sam to yearn for the black walls of her bedroom every time she exited it.

Really, the girl often wondered what kind of horrible thing she could've done in a past life that got her saddled with people like these as parents. And she was certain her mother and father felt the same way. If Sam was being truthful, she would sometimes lay in bed at night and ponder if her parents regretted adopting her fourteen years ago, and if they ever wished they'd chosen another baby. Not like she'd ever come out and ask them; that was too scary to even think about. Oh well, they'd never attempted to 'give her back', so that had to count for something.

Realising she's been stewing in her own bleak thoughts in the middle of the kitchen, Sam pushed such wonderings from her mind and turned on the frozen yogurt machine, knowing by heart exactly what flavor and toppings Danny preferred. She'd have the snacks ready by the time he arrived.

* * *

Danny approached the Manson family manor, located in a ritsy part of town, where the well-off lived. Strangely enough the street over was filled with small apartments and houses for the not-so-well-off. Whoever made that decision was either cruel or loved irony a bit too much.

Danny's mind, however, was occupied with worrying over whether it had been a good decision to go to Sam's house. He knew that she would most certainly pounce at the first opportunity to rail him about the past two days, and so he'd been going over the pros and cons of being honest ever since he pulled on a pair of black jeans and left the house.

On one hand, he could just spill the truth out and hope she didn't throw him out of the house. She had been his and Tuckers' friend since fifth grade, and he knew she had his back no matter what.

But that was exactly what made him so uncertain. 'No matter what' was a phrase that didn't include things like being a walking talking dead person, and Danny wouldn't blame Sam if she ran screaming from him.

And yet he knew he could never keep up this charade of being fine; not without hurting his friendships in the process. They could see through him too well. They would know he was lying to them and it would hurt them, and they were the last people he ever wanted to hurt.

He also just really wanted to tell someone about what had happened, and he couldn't go to Jazz or his parents. There was no one else to confide in, and this was all a little too much for him to handle alone.

Playing his options back and forth in his head, Danny absently rang the doorbell, knowing the Manson parents really didn't like him barging into their home. Hell, if they had their own way he and Tucker wouldn't be allowed inside at all, but since when did Sam ever listen to her parents.

Speaking of, the door was opened by a woman in a yellow dress, wearing an equally bright smile. As her eyes landed on Danny, the smile dimmed swiftly into a frown.

"Danny. Are you here to see Samantha?"

"Hi Mrs Manson, and yeah."

The woman regarded him for a moment, eyes sweeping over his dark, rumpled attire and unkempt hair. Danny tried not to show how uncomfortable it made him every time Mr or Mrs Manson inspected him as though he were an insect. It was like they were adding to a mental list of things to hold against him; or looking for an excuse to refuse him entry.

Finally she mutely stepped aside, opening the door a tad wider. He stepped through, giving a quick thanks over his shoulder at the woman as he headed straight for the stairs. Mrs Manson followed behind at a distance, as she always did when either of the boys came over. Once outside Sam's bedroom Danny once again knocked at the purple door. He and Tucker had been given quite a thorough list of do's and don'ts three years ago by the Manson parents. It was essentially a list of things they deemed inappropriate conduct in their household, and entering their daughter's room without knocking was one of those things.

"Yeah." Came the muffled reply, and Danny quickly opened the door and closed it behind him as though he were keeping out water. He breathed out in relief, the needle prick sensation of Mrs Manson staring at him got nerve-wracking quick. He turned to see Sam on the other end of the black room, giving him a knowing smile over her shoulder as she set down a liter of soda on the low table which lay at the foot of her bed. Also resting there was two cups with ice and bowls of frozen yogurt. One thing Sam did inherit from her parents was her habit of preparing food and drink for any guests she had. No matter what she always at least offered to get something for Danny and Tucker every time they came over.

"Once again you survived the shark pool; you deserve a reward for that, oh brave one."

Danny grinned back as he walked into the room, coming to stand beside Sam. He felt all the stress and indecision flee from his mind as he spoke, "If that reward comes in the form of hot fudge and vanilla yogurt, then I shall graciously accept."

"Here you go then, soldier." The teenage girl handed him his bowl before taking hers. They sat down simultaneously in the gaming chairs, Danny logging onto his Doomed profile. The screen split in two, and Danny's avatar appeared opposite Sam's at the table. He too put his character in standby before digging into his food with vigor. The frozen yogurt machine had been broken for a few weeks, Sam's parents reticent to get it fixed, and Danny swore he was going through withdrawals.

Halfway through his snack, Danny noticed that Sam seemed to be eating slower than normal, glancing at him occasionally. Not knowing what to say, Danny pretended not to notice and hoped she wasn't about to start asking questions so soon. He had hoped to at least enjoy some Doomed on the big screen before he was put on the spot.

No such luck for Danny Fenton today, it seemed. The gothic girl set her bowl down on the floor beside her as Danny finished off his own, doing the same. He avoided her gaze under the ruse of wiping bits of stray yogurt from his mouth. He heard her sigh heavily beside him, and finally forced himself to look over at her. She was watching him with concern in her gaze, all jokes and smiles lost, and Danny couldn't help but feel guilty for causing her and Tucker to worry this much. Another part of him rebelled, claiming they were being overly-theatrical about it all. So he'd acted a little funny, and missed school. That didn't give her the right to try and poke and prod at him. He didn't owe her answers. But no, he did; she was his best friend. He'd never lied to her before. Well, except for when they'd first met, and he told her he was on the basketball team. Yeah, that farce had lasted all of one day.

"Danny?" The boy in question was pulled out of that particular memory and placed back in the present by said best friend's voice. Once she saw that she had his full attention, she closed her eyes and sighed once more, and when she spoke again her words were slow, as though she were trying to think of how to best word them.

"Alright, I know you knew this was coming, and I know you just think I'm being dramatic by asking, but you really spooked me and Tucker Thursday. I mean, we've all seen each other in not-so-pleasant moods, but...Is something wrong, Danny? Because what with Thursday and then Friday, you just seem off all of a sudden. Had something happened at home? Are your parents and Jazz okay? You know you can tell me anything."

Danny cut off anything she might have said further, unable to keep his tone from sounding tense and annoyed, "No Sam, nothing's happened. My family's the same as ever, no one's died or anything." He mentally congratulated himself at how steadily that came out. He even schooled his expression to come across as a bit bored, hoping to throw Sam off. She was having none of it.

"Well then will you explain to me why you walked through school the day before like you were petrified. Seriously, Danny, I know how you look when you're sick or exhausted, and that wasn't it at all. You looked, well, _scared_. Like you'd seen a ghost or something."

As the age-old phrase slipped of her tongue, Danny couldn't help but stiffen a bit. The other teen picked up on it, her eyes widening and eyebrows raising.

"Is that it? You saw a ghost? What, were your parents out hunting again?"

"W-well, sorta."

"Ugh, Danny, why won't you just be straightforward with me? You always are, no matter what. That's what has me so worried. I mean, what could be so earth-shattering that you'd keep it from your friends?"

It was then that Danny realised he really _couldn't_ pull off lying to his friends; not if he wanted to keep the trust they all held. Looking again over at Sam, he saw nothing but genuine concern in her eyes. Guilt bubbling up in his stomach, as well as anxiety, Danny grabbed his bowl and stood up.

"Alright, I'll...I'll tell you what's been going on. But it's going to be hard to, uh, to believe. And could you call Tuck? I'd really like to tell you both at the same time."

Sam just nodded silently, face solemn and nervous at the same time. Danny wondered what it was she was expecting him to say. One thing for sure, it definitely wouldn't be what he was about to confide. He felt his breath quickening in anticipation as he set his bowl on the table, pouring a cup of soda to give himself something to do while Sam held her cellphone to her ear.

It took nearly a minute, but finally Danny heard the faint sound of Tucker's voice, heavy with sleep, on the other end of the phone. He couldn't hear what the other boy said, but was able to guess by Sam's response.

"Yes I do know what time it is, do _you_? Geeze, Tucker, it's almost noon. Get off your lazy ass and come over to my place. Danny's here an- Yeah he's here. He's got some stuff to tell us. Alright."

She slid the small black phone shut and threw it onto her bed, which she sat down upon, yogurt bowl in her lap. She stared down at the carpeting as she idly pulled little gummy bats out of her bowl and ate them. Danny was also at a loss of something to say while they waited, so the two friends pondered their own thoughts in silence.

Thankfully Tucker lived two blocks down, and apparently he had also ran, judging by his state of breathlessness as he entered Sam's room after knocking.

_'Geeze, have I really been acting _that _weird?'_

Upon the third friend's arrival, Sam set down her bowl, telling Tucker she'd get him a cup and ice before leaving the room. Tucker stood beside Danny, giving him the same look Sam had.

"Dude, you okay? Sam said you had something to talk about?"

"Yeah, and it's kinda...hard to explain."

Sam returned, cup in hand, and set about pouring herself and Tucker drinks, refilling Danny's as well before they all sat down upon the floor. Danny crossed his legs in front of him, feeling two pairs of eyes on him, waiting patiently for him to begin this big talk he apparently had in store. He just wished he knew where to start. He supposed the beginning would be the best place.

"So, uh...you guys remember Wednesday? When that old lady ghost attacked us?"

"I do." Sam replied flatly, shuddering a bit. Tucker just nodded, face serious. Both males had been terrified of losing Sam that day, and it was still very much fresh in their minds. Danny cleared his throat a bit before continuing.

"Well, that afternoon when I got home, my parents were ready to try out that Ghost Portal again."

"The one they've been working on since forever?" Came Tucker's voice. Danny didn't look up as he replied, eyes fixed on his own legs.

"Yeah. They were convinced it was gonna work this time, like always. And, like always, it didn't. They were pretty bummed by that, so I suggested they go out and have a nice time. Anyway, after they left I went back downstairs to turn off all those lights down there. Which, now that I think about it, I never found." Danny shook his head; he was getting off topic, subconsciously stalling. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Anyway, I ended up going into the Portal and accidentally pressed a button and a weird light appeared and then all I remember is waking up and feeling funny, and all the lights were off so I thought I'd broken something so I ran to the door to try and book it out of there only my hand went through the door and it really freaked me out but after a minute it finally worked and I calmed down, then I realised I'd left my clothes in the lab so I went back and that's when I saw myself in the Portal only it wasn't me, well it was but it wasn't, it was like a dead me but I think it used to be me you know, anyway I totally freaked and ended up taking it to my room but then I realised how stupid that was so I hid it in my closet and it's in there right now."

Finally Danny had to pause to take a breath. He'd said everything so quickly that he feared neither Tucker or Sam understood him. He really didn't want to have to repeat all of that. Risking a glance up, Danny saw Sam and Tuckers' faces relatively blank. The concerned, curious expressions having fled. Danny felt like he should continue but was at a complete loss for words. Finally Sam spoke up after several moments.

"Wait, so you went into your parents' Ghost Portal? And, what, you pressed some kind of button on accident?"

"Basically."

"And this light you saw...do you know what it was?"

"I think it was the Portal charging up. It's working perfectly now; my parents can't seem to figure out how, but they sure are happy about it."

Sam opened her mouth, but was cut off by Tucker waving his hands frantically, eyebrows knitting together.

"Woah woah whoah wait now. Let's fast-forward in your little story. You said you saw yourself in the Portal, but it was a dead version of you?"

"No, yes-er, I mean...It _was _me, but I'm me, too. I don't know how else to explain it."

Sam spoke up once more, "But Danny, how can there be two of you at once, let alone a dead one? Maybe you were seeing your reflection in the light from the Portal or something."

"The Portal wasn't on when I woke up, Sam. I know what my reflection looks like, and it's never been lying on the ground with no heartbeat."

Danny felt anger well up inside him. He knew he shouldn't have expected them to believe him right off the bat, but somehow their skepticism irritated him. His friends' faces were a mix of several emotions, mainly disbelief. They glanced each others' way before Sam spoke up again, taking on a placating tone, which told Danny plainly that they thought he was mistaken.

"Danny, I'm sure what happened scared you a lot, and maybe you saw some things. Your mind was probably just playing tricks on you, I mean, it's easy to spook yourself when standing in the dark. You-"

"I know what I saw. And right now there's another me lying in my closet at home, and I'm...I'm..." Danny felt so frustrated, he just wanted them to understand, and believe him. He wanted _someone _who he could share this terrible secret with.

"You're what?"

"I'm...I think I'm dead, you guys..."

The two looked at Danny as though he had just grown an extra leg. Silence rang out sharply for all of one second before Tucker and Sam were speaking at the same time.

"Danny that isn't funny."

"Oh come on, you expect us to believe that?"

"Guys I'm being serious! I-I've woken up twice floating above my bed, and I can apparently _fly_, and yesterday that Skulker guy called me a ghost and my leg healed, not to mention my alarm clock-"

"Ghost? Who called you a ghost?"

"This...this other ghost. At least I think he was a ghost."

Sam scoffed, "Danny if you really did meet a ghost, you shouldn't just believe what it said. It was probably just trying to scare you."

"No it wasn't, Sam! I mean, well, it _was_ trying to scare me, but it's true, I think I'm a ghost! I even flew yesterday! It was really weird but coo-"

"Danny come on, you really can't just sit there and expect me and Tucker to believe you without some kind of proof. I mean, you have to admit this is all a little sketchy."

Danny's eyebrows lowered. Why were they acting like he was lying to them? He was being completely honest; why couldn't they see that! He sat forward on his knees, coming closer to the girl.

"Fine, you want proof? Here, feel for my pulse."

Sam frowned up at the boy, but did as he told and placed her fingers over his wrist. Tucker watched silently, looking as if he expected Danny to reveal some sort of punchline to a joke any second.

The seconds ticked by and Sam's face grew worried, then afraid. Eventually she released his wist, only to grab up the other one. This one she held a few moments before letting it go and looking up at Danny, expression one of utter confusion.

"You can check the one on my neck too if you want. I know _I_ have like fifty times since Wednesday."

Sam's voice was light and shaky as she spoke, eyes wide. "No, but...you can't have no pulse. You...you're right here! You're right here, you're talking and...oh my god Danny you don't have a pulse, at all!"

"There's no way!" Tucker intervened, "You just did it wrong. Here." He placed a palm flat over the left side of Danny's chest, Danny just sitting back and resigning himself to the situation. They were both doing exactly what he had done many times over the last four days, and he empathized greatly with their panic and denial.

Tucker's face now matched Sam's and they both seemed to curl in over themselves in disbelief as they looked at Danny. He lowered his eyes once more to his lap, unable to face them, afraid any second they'd run screaming from the room.

The opposite happened, really. Danny found his arm seized tightly again by Sam, and looked up in surprise to see her kneeling over him with a determined look.

"Show us."

"W-what?"

"Show us the body. The dead body you say is in your closet." Her tone and expression were hard, and left no room for argument.

"B-but-"

Tucker cut him off, voice harsh and shaky, "Danny I swear if this is some sort of elaborate joke I'll punch you in the face."

He stood up then, followed by Sam, who hauled Danny up with her. Of all the things Danny had expected them to say, somehow them asking to see his old body wasn't one of them. For some reason he felt reluctant to lead them to his other self, almost as though he wished to guard it, keep it hidden away and safe. At the mere thought of someone discovering its location Danny wanted nothing more than to run home and make sure the body was still there.

Unnerved by these urges, and not wanting to outright refuse his friends, which would make him look like a liar, Danny mutely started walking toward the door. The others followed behind him, game and drinks all forgotten.

None of them spoke the entire trip to Danny's house. When they reached it Danny led the way through the front door, past his sister watching television and upstairs. Danny felt a sort of dread building in him as he closed and locked his bedroom door once they were all inside. Sam and Tucker were standing near his bed, eyes shifting repeatedly from him to his closet. Tucker had a scowl on his face, but it was mostly overtaken by the uncertainty in his eyes. Sam simply wore an expression of apprehension.

Danny's instincts were berating him, yelling loudly that these two shouldn't be there; shouldn't see what lay beyond the old white door. Danny determinedly ignored these thoughts, and shot out a hand to grasp the closet handle, giving it a slow turn. He heard the sound of one of his friends taking a step back, but didn't look behind as he opened the door. Light streamed into the dark space, revealing clothes hung up and boxes.

"Wait, I don't see a body." Tucker stepped forward, looking indignant. Sam was incredibly pale, and Danny hoped she wouldn't faint. He settled a frown at Tucker and lifting the first box off the pile, lowering it to the floor. As soon he had the third box in his arms, he heard both teens gasp. Tucker went rigid where he stood beside Danny, and Sam sat down heavily upon his bed. The top of a head of black hair was now visible for all in the room to see.

Danny wore a grim expression as he moved onto the fourth box, and soon the fifth and final one was lying on his floor, and Danny was caught up in the sight of his own corpse once more. A feeling of peace came over him, but it was shattered quickly by Sam crying out softly. Danny turned to look at her. She held her face in her hands, eyes wide between her fingers as she stared down at the floor.

"No, no this isn't right. This isn't happening." Her voice was barely above a squeaky whisper. Danny thought about sitting beside her to offer some comfort. Movement from the corner of his eye aborted that plan, and he was quickly whipping around to see Tucker moving toward the body.

An urge to throw Tucker away from the corpse had Danny stepping toward the other boy, but he stopped himself, arms held tensely at his sides, eyes fixed on Tucker's every move.

Tucker's mouth hung open, his face having gone blank except for his wide eyes. He crouched down in the closet doorway, inches from the body. Its head still lay slumped against a deflated chest. Arms dangling down to curled fingers which rested upon the floor beside two legs that stretched out, a pair of torn jeans resting in a heap across them.

Tucker tentatively reached out a hand, as though he expected the Danny before him to vanish into smoke. "There's no way this is real..." He muttered lowly to himself, hand drawing closer toward the body. It was mere centimeters from making contact when Danny could contain himself no longer.

"_DON'T_!" He shouted sharply, causing Tucker to jump sky high and fall back to land on his butt, looking up at Danny in shock and confusion. Danny stared down at the other teen, and felt a humming start up from within, bringing him great comfort through his anger. There was no way he was going to let anyone touch what was his, not even his best friend. His hands clenched into fists, and Danny raised himself to his full height, looking down threateningly at Tucker, who's face flickered with fear. He quickly scrambled to his feet and backed up to stand beside Sam, who was also beholding Danny as though he were an unknown creature.

Tucker raised his hands, speaking calmly to the tense teenager in front of him. "Danny, it's okay. I won't touch it if you don't want me to. It's just me, Tucker. Danny?"

At those words Danny managed to regain himself, rational thought taking over once more, and the hum left him. He immediately felt a sense of loss at its absence, but Danny focused his mind on his two friends, who were practically leaning away from him with odd looks on their faces. What had happened? He'd just been so...mad. He hadn't wanted Tucker to touch his-no, _the_ body. But why? It was just a dead body. He trusted Tucker, and now he'd gone and scared the hell out of him and Sam.

Guilt lowered Danny back into his normal slouch, and his hands relaxed. His friends thankfully relaxed as well, though they still looked at him with caution plainly written in their eyes.

_'No, this is the last thing I wanted to happen. At this rate they really will run screaming. Oh what is up with me!?'_

"Guys, I'm really sorry. I don't know what came over me just now. I promise, I'm not mad at you." He took a step forward, grateful when they didn't shrink back. Tucker seemed entirely amazed now that Danny had gone back to normal, and it showed in his voice as he spoke up.

"Dude, how did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That glowy thingy with your eyes, man that was incredible!"

"My eyes?"

"Yeah! Your eyes just now, they went _green_, and your pupils turned all glowy like a friggen' cat's or something! Can you do it again?"

"I uh, I don't know. I didn't even know my eyes could change color..."

_'Well there's another weird ghost thing to tack onto my growing list.'_

Tucker seemed to have forgotten the earlier episode, and was sporting a grin as he moved away from Sam, who still sat silently watching the two boys.

"Man, that was so cool. Hey, do you know if you can do any other tricks?"

Taken aback, but relieved, Danny let himself relax as he answered. "Well, I know I can fly."

"Really? Can you do it now?"

The request gave Danny pause, and he looked down uncertainly. He'd only done it the once (he wasn't going to count the times above his bed) and he wasn't sure if he could do it again. Deciding that he should at least try, Danny closed his eyes and tried to focus on the memory of what flying felt like; the harsh scrape of wind in his face the higher he got, the dizziness of ascending too quickly, how to stay balanced. Minutes passed in silence, and Danny became lost in his thoughts.

"Woah, dude!"

Opening his eyes, Danny felt the floor come up to meet his feet with a dull thud. Tucker's grin dropped as well.

"Aww, you were doing it, why'd you stop?"

"It's not like I meant to. I think I just need to practice at it. Who knows, maybe I can get good at it one day." Danny smiled, liking the mental image of himself one day mastering flight.

"Could you imagine, being able to fly all over the place like Superman. Damn, Danny this is _awesome_! Do you think if you got good enough you could take me flying with you?"

"I don't know, maybe-"

"Hold it."

Both teens turned to the lone female in the room, still in her spot on Danny's bed. She seemed to have completely collected herself. Standing up, Sam gave a glance toward the closet before quickly looking away toward Danny. Her voice was low but steady as she spoke.

"Danny, that's your dead body, right?"

Taken off guard, Danny's mood abruptly crashed. He'd honestly forgotten that the corpse was still on display for all to see. His will to hide it away returned, but he quelled it, focusing on Sam as she continued.

"So if that's your body, then what's standing in front of me?"

She seemed afraid of what the answer might be, and Danny was too. He could only shrug helplessly. "I don't know. There's still a lot I haven't been able to figure out."

"Well then that's the first thing we should do, try to find some answers. Between the three of us I'm sure we can manage. Tucker, I want you to handle searching the internet. I'll swing by my favorite bookstore; it's got all sorts of dark and occult books that can help us. Do you think you could get anything out of your parents, Danny?"

Danny smiled on the inside at Sam's plan. Her determination to help Danny relieved him greatly. It meant that she accepted him. There had been no screaming or running of any kind. Danny was glad he'd chosen to entrust his friends with this. He knew that they would never betray his secret, and more, they'd do what they could to help him. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad; not so long as he wasn't in it alone.

Coming back to her question, Danny nodded his head. "Yeah, already thought of that actually. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get much in the way of concrete answers, but it's definitely worth a shot."

"Got it. So, what say we all go back to my house for the day? The research can wait until tomorrow, right?"

"You got that right. Doomed here I come!" Tucker was immediately heading for the door, only to freeze when he realised that the door was still locked and the closet was still open. The air tensed once more, ease evaporating as quickly as it had arrived.

Not wanting to spoil the good mood, Danny kept his tone light as he waved off Tucker. "Go ahead, Tuck, no one's gonna see. I'll be down in a sec."

The other boy smiled and unlocked the door, opening just a crack and squeezing himself through it, as though that would magically block any outsider's view. Jazz was still downstairs, and Maddie and Jack were down in the lab, so Tucker made it through without causing suspicion, and closed the door behind him.

Danny busied himself with quickly putting the boxes back in their place, looking upon his slowly disappearing body and feeling something akin to wistfulness as he did so. When he closed his closet door he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump. He hadn't noticed that Sam remained behind. She looked at Danny with an unreadable expression for a few seconds, long enough for Danny to begin to shift awkwardly, before she moved forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. She squeezed tightly and rested her head against his shoulder. She then went very still, and Danny guessed she was listening in vain for a heartbeat.

When time ticked by and she didn't find one, Sam only squeezed harder before releasing Danny, looking up at her friend with sadness.

"It's going to be alright, Danny. Me and Tucker are here for you in this, I promise."

Danny was embarrassed and surprised and touched all at once, and could only find it in himself to smile awkwardly at his gothic friend before heading toward the door, leaving it open for Sam to follow.

_'She's right, though.'_ Danny thought to himself as he reached the bottom of the stairs, finding Tucker engrossed in the television along with Jazz. It _would _be alright. He would be alright. He may be dead, a ghost. But as long as he had the two greatest friends in the world, Danny felt alive.

(I was originally planning on Sam and Tucker finding out Danny's secret later on, but the plot can't really start up without them in the know, so I decided to just get it out of the way. And boy was that a sweet, cheesy ending. I normally don't end my chapters on such a high note, but I couldn't think of any other way; and besides, it's alright to end chapters happily every once in a while. And don't worry, if Tucker and Sams' reactions felt a little uncompleted, that's because they are. There's definitely more about their thoughts in the next chapter, which I'm working on now. Please review with any opinions, I'm always interested to know what my readers think!)


	5. Chapter 5

Tada! I give you chapter five! I'm a little mixed about it; it's pretty good, but I also rushed it a little because I was feeling bad for making you all wait so long between chapters. Hope you all like it, and a big thanks to all who review! Seriously I read them all multiple times! Please enjoy.

Chapter 5: Shallow Grave

Tucker yawned once more, trying and failing to focus on his homework as he sat in study hall, his last class before lunch time. The day before he, Sam and Danny had agreed to find out as much as they could about what was happening to Danny, in the hopes of understanding his situation, or better yet, finding a way to help him. Who knows, there could be some sort of miracle cure. It was improbable, but Tucker wouldn't allow himself to linger over the fact that his long-time friend was now a ghost; there had to be some way to fix this.

He'd been ecstatic on Saturday when Danny had demonstrated his amazing ability to fly, even though he really just hovered off the ground a little. And his eyes _had_ looked really cool when they glowed, despite scaring the wits out of Tucker. But once Tucker had been back in his own bed that night he found himself unable to sleep, mind going over what had occurred, and the story Danny told them. How he'd died.

Tucker just couldn't fully believe it, even after seeing the proof which lay in Danny's own closet. He'd always joked endlessly about how the Fentons' eerie lab, which he'd rarely been down to see, was a hazard waiting to happen. But he never anticipated said hazard would result in his friend's death. It all made him angry, at both Danny's parents and Danny himself. Really, what kind of people had machinery that could be fatal just lying around exposed to their kids? And what the heck had been going through Danny's thick skull to make him _step inside_ the Portal in the first place?

Tucker closed his tired eyes in frustration. Dwelling on such thoughts was not only bad for his mental health, but it was useless. You couldn't change the past. The Fenton parents had made a mistake, and so had Danny, and now all Tucker could do was support his friend and try his best to help him any way he could. He'd been up all night on the internet for that very reason.

Looking over at Sam, Tucker could tell she had done the same, judging by her slumped form and the strange book she was currently poring over. She'd raided her favorite bookstore of all their ghostly content that Sunday, and was still gathering notes. He really hoped that she had had more success than him. All he'd managed to discover were vague theories and speculations given by crackpots. Seemed there just wasn't any reputable study on ghosts being done at all, anywhere. Tucker understood why; most people didn't even believe ghosts existed. He'd just hoped that there would be some group of scientists somewhere out there devoted to the study. But it appeared as if the Fentons were the only ones in their field of any high standard, and that was if you ignored the fact that they were a little nuts, in Tucker's opinion.

When the three friends had all made it back into Sam's room, the first question Tucker had asked had been concerning Danny's parents, and whether or not his friend planned on telling them his secret as well. Danny had gone very still for a moment, before slowly asking what Sam and Tucker thought he should do. It was clear to Tucker that Danny wasn't ready to reveal his death to his family, and Tucker quickly voiced his agreement. He knew Danny's parents loved him, but when it came to ghosts, their obsessive curiosity and malice could blind them to many things, including their son. Tucker kept this opinion to himself, of course. No need to go saying things that would only upset Danny further. It was obvious how torn he was on the question of telling them the truth. Luckily, Sam had known just the right words to say, and soon Danny was relaxing once more.

They'd proceeded to spend the remainder of the day blasting monsters and fellow players on Doomed, Tucker doing his best to not keep staring over at Danny. He failed several times, and just hoped the other boy didn't notice. He really didn't want to make Danny feel uncomfortable, but Tucker couldn't help himself. Every so often he'd find his eyes leaving the tv screen to wonder toward his friend, namely his chest, searching out the small tell-tale sign of breathing. When he noticed an hour into their gameplay that Danny's chest no longer rose and fell, he decided to keep this to himself as well.

Hearing a long sigh coming from next to him, Tucker looked up at the clock, noting that there were still ten minutes left until the bell sounded. He turned back to the English homework he'd neglected to do over the weekend. He didn't need Lancer on his back on top of everything. Another yawn broke forth, and with great effort Tucker pushed all thoughts of Danny to the side for the time being.

* * *

Sam sighed long and hard through her nose. She'd stayed up all through the night reading the new pile of books she'd bought at the bookstore, and boy was she beginning to feel the long hours. She glanced up at the clock, holding in a groan when she saw that there were still ten minutes until lunch. Those ten minutes were going to drag by, just as the entire day had been doing so far. She resisted the urge to put her head down and go to sleep. Danny needed answers, and she'd promised to help him in getting them, so that was what she was going to do.

Sam knew, though, that deep down it went beyond that, beyond any obligation she felt toward her friend. The truth was that she was afraid; so very afraid. Danny was dead, a ghost now that still walked around and acted the same, but for how long? How long until Danny's spirit moved on, or was unable to keep form here on earth? Sam wasn't sure if such a thing would even happen, but the thought plagued her endlessly. Unfortunately there were no concrete findings to be found in the texts she had compiled, merely theories that had no proof to back them up. She hoped Tucker had been more successful.

A few points had sparked her interest, however. One being how all ghosts existed because of the abrupt or tragic circumstances surrounding their deaths. That would explain why Danny had become a ghost, and not simply moved on. Another was how all ghosts supposedly had different powers based on how they died and what they'd been like when they were alive, but all ghosts came with standard abilities such as invisibility and flight. The book that detailed these alleged facts was small but thick, bound in a hard purple cover depicting a lone triangle across its front. It was written by some guy called Showenhower, and so far his writings had seemed the most logical to Sam. She leafed through its pages now in Study Hall as she waited for the clock to tick down to lunch time, when all three friends had agreed to meet outside at the picnic tables, where they could keep from being overheard. She doubted anyone would believe them anyway, but it was best to just keep a low profile. Last week's ghost scare was still the talk of the halls, even though no one else had seen the enraged spirit, and most people assumed it was merely a hoax. The lunch ladies sure seemed a lot happier now, though.

She'd hardly been able to sit still all of Saturday afternoon, shifting constantly in her seat as she tried to focus her attention on the screen before her. Despite her best efforts, however, she found herself running mainly on autopilot, moving her avatar out of habit more than anything else, eyes seeing through the screen. Her mind refused to leave Danny's bedroom, and the events that had taken place there. She had felt the floorboards give way underneath her feet when she'd seen the dark strands of hair come into view. All hope that she'd held that it was some sort of sick joke died abruptly, leaving her feeling empty and scared.

The fear only amplified when Danny's shout startled her, and she'd looked up to see him standing rigidly, staring down at Tucker as though he were an intruder. His eyes were the scariest part. They had gone a bright, luminous green, the very veins of the irises seeming to radiate. Even his very pupils held a strange yellow-green light behind them, like a predator in the dark. But what frightened her even more was what was held within the eyes. They belonged to a stranger. For those few short seconds, Danny hadn't been in there. At least, not the Danny she knew.

She was glad that Tucker had been able to snap him back to reality, for she'd found herself unable to speak. Sam was even more grateful when Tucker had had the mind to brush off the incident, and play it cool so that Danny would relax. He'd jumped at the opportunity to leave the room, though, and Sam had sat quietly and watched Danny replace all the boxes in the closet, apprehensively studying him. He was still Danny. He had to be. His voice and mannerisms and even his smell showed that he was exactly the same. Well, almost exactly. The lack of a heartbeat under Sam's cheek as she'd hugged him proved that.

Either way, Sam would stick to her promise, and be there for her friend, no matter what.

With a big yawn Sam gave up the struggle, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to let her eyes rest for a few minutes until the bell rang.

* * *

Danny did not yawn as he focused on the voice of Mrs Smith giving a long and droning lecture on the latest Algebra lesson. In fact, despite only getting a few hours of sleep, Danny felt nothing but contentment.

He'd found himself awake in his bed that night. To his disappointment he wasn't floating. A quick look at his phone showed that it was three am, and Danny wondered what it could have been that woke him up in the first place. It seemed as if his closet had been the one to wake him, but that didn't make any sense in Danny's half-asleep mind.

Either way, he found himself getting up out of his bed and making his way toward his closet, opening the door, and slowly removing the boxes. He wasn't sure why he was doing this, but didn't bother stopping, merely letting his sleep-fogged brain direct his body as it lowered the final box to the floor. Then he had sat down in front of his old body, and felt a smile come over his face at the sight before him. Peace covered him like a blanket and Danny let his thoughts float until he was jolted back to reality by the sound of his sister knocking on his bedroom door. Looking around himself, he realised that light was now pouring in through the window and it was morning. Wondering over how time could pass so quickly, but not wanting to ruin his peace of mind, Danny simply shrugged to himself and began the task of hiding his body once more. He wished he didn't have school that day, but a quick promise to himself that he'd return home as soon as possible eased him greatly.

He was now sitting at his desk, allowing the peaceful feeling to continue to flow over him like a wave. It hadn't let up all day, and Danny hoped it went on forever. Part of him was concerned why it was that being around his dead body made him feel so happy, but the teen resolved to worry about that later. For now, he had notes to take.

He was glad Sam had allowed him to copy her Biology homework. A grilling from Mr Falluca would've surely shattered his peace of mind. He'd forgotten all about it until it was nearly time for him to head home. That Sunday afternoon had been filled with the three friends kicking some major ass on Doomed and eating enough frozen yogurt that even Danny had admit they'd gone overboard. He was so relieved that everything had simply fallen back into routine, as if nothing had changed.

At first he'd felt awkward and uncertain. The silence on the walk back to Sam's hadn't helped, and neither had Tucker's question. Danny didn't even want to _think_ about his parents finding out, not if he could help it. Thankfully Sam had told him that it was _his_ secret, and only he had the right to tell it or keep it. She was right, no one outside Sam and Tucker had to know, and it wasn't as if there were automatic ghost detection machines hooked up all over the place like metal detectors. He'd be fine as long as none of them let slip anything, and he trusted his friends to not betray him.

After that all of them had relaxed in front of the wide screen tv and enjoyed hours of gameplaying, Tucker moping because he had to take a spot on the floor with the handheld controller. It was almost as if nothing had even happened, as if Danny had never told them his secret and they'd never gone over to his house to see the proof of it. Almost. Danny did catch a few covert looks sent his way from Tucker, noticing him too late to discern what lay beyond his stares. Was it fear? Worry? Doubt? He didn't know, but their steadfast promise to help him through this made him all the more confidant in their loyalty.

Either way, he was just grateful they hadn't bombarded him with questions as he'd thought they would. He definitely didn't have answers to give. He was especially thankful they'd not mentioned the earlier incident with him and Tucker back in his room. He wasn't sure what had come over him, and wanted to just forget about it. The stress of the situation must have gotten to him, that was all. It had yet to happen again, so Danny considered it done and forgotten, and hoped his friends did as well.

The bell signaling lunch sounded shrilly throughout the school, and everyone practically scrambled from their desks to make it out the door first. Danny took his time as usual, unwilling to get trampled like the rest, and was soon off down the quickly emptying halls toward the cafeteria.

Once he had his lunch in hand he left the noise of the cafeteria through its back doors, beyond which a few scattered picnic tables rested outside amid scattered old trees. They were rarely used, with only a few people seeking solace by themselves here and there. Danny spotted Sam and Tucker already eating at a table underneath the shade of a moss-covered oak. Reaching the table, has set down with his tray, giving his friends a smile as he picked up his chicken burger.

"Why're you wearing that jacket? Aren't you hot?"

Danny looked up from his food at Sam, who'd spoken. She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. He glanced down at himself, confused at her out of the blue inquiry.

"What are you talking about, it's freezing out here. Why aren't _you _wearing a jacket?"

Now both of Sam's eyebrows were up, and Tucker paused in the act of chewing his food to look between the two. Sam's expression became one of confusion and growing worry as she spoke.

"Danny, it's not cold out. In fact, it's still pretty hot for August."

It was Dann'y turn to be worried and confused. "What? But..."

Sam sat forward, stopping anything Danny might have said with words of her own.

"Danny, how long have you been feeling cold, exactly?"

"Um, well, for a few days now...wait, actually, I think it started up Thursday morning. Oh man don't tell me this is another ghost thing and I haven't noticed until now."

With a groan Danny pushed his tray to the side so he could drop his head upon the wooden table. Figures. Now he was frustrated; was being cold going to a be a permanent thing? Because if so than being a ghost just got a lot less cool.

Now that his content bubble had been popped, Danny decided it was time to discuss any possible discoveries they'd made last night. Danny hadn't been able to speak to his parents at all, due to 'a critical stage in their experimenting process', but he hoped Sam and Tucker had been more successful.

The expression on his face as he lifted his head must have been signal enough for the both of them, because Sam immediately pulled up her spider backpack, rummaging through it while Tucker finished off his burger, pushing his tray aside. She removed a purple book from its depths, laying it out with a soft thud between the three of them.

"Alright, this is the best book I've found on ghosts so far. It has some really interesting points. All the other ones are just kind of the same theories over and over again. What about you, did your parents have any useful information?"

Danny let his shoulders drop further as he answered her, "No, they were too busy building some new ecto gun or something. Ever since they saw me and that Skulker guy they've been even more obsessed than usual."

Sam and Tucker both sat a little straighter, opening their mouths simultaneously. Tucker was the first to speak.

"Wait a minute. Your parents saw you!? I thought you said they didn't know!"

Danny mentally kicked himself when he realised he'd never actually talked about his run in with the other ghost that Friday, and suppressed a heavy sigh.

"W-well, they didn't actually. I was too high up for them to see very well, and I'd pulled my hood up. That Skulker ghost I mentioned before was chasing me for some reason and I didn't want to be recognised, so I-"

"Hold on, just when were you planning on telling us about this?" Sam's tone held thick accusation, and Danny felt bad for completely forgetting to let them in on why he'd missed school that day.

"Sorry guys, I guess I just forgot all about it. Anyway, that's why I missed Friday. I was on my way when all of a sudden this big metal guy started shooting green fire at me. I tried to get back to my house but he ended up grabbing me and taking me up into the sky. He said something about a contract and then dropped me. That's when I found out I could fly. Pretty good timing, huh?"

Danny's small smile at his attempted joke didn't reach his two friends, who appeared both curious and concerned. Danny looked down at the table as he continued, replaying the terrifying events in his mind.

"Once I got the flying part down I realised that all those explosions were attracting attention. I didn't want to be recognised, for obvious reasons, so I pulled my hood up over my face. Um...that was when I got hit. The ghost blasted me with his stupid gun or whatever. It hurt me pretty bad. You guys should've seen what my leg looked like. I thought I was gonna have to go to the hospital. That's when my parents came out of the house, guns blazing, and I got out of there."

A thought struck Danny, and he looked over at Sam. "Hey Sam, does that book say anything about ghosts being able to heal themselves?"

Sam seemed to snap out of her own thoughts, eyes regaining focus, and she nodded, picking up the book as she spoke. "Yeah, it has a whole chapter on how ghosts can regenerate themselves as long as the ghost itself isn't too weak. That's what happened, isn't it? Your leg healed itself."

"Uh huh, and I also found out that I can't go through ghost shields. That one really should've been obvious. I tried to go back home after the ghost went away, but my parents had put the shield up and I couldn't get inside."

It was Tucker's turn to speak, arms raising in exasperation. "Dude, you should've texted us! We would've come and helped you!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it would've been as easy as that. 'Hey Tuck, can't get in my house on account of me being a ghost. Ugh. Wanna go hang out at your place instead?'"

Danny let his sarcastic reply linger in the air before turning back to Sam, "Anything else in that book of yours worth mentioning?"

Sam seemed to want to continue Tucker's argument, but thought better of it and instead opened up the book to one of several dog-eared pages. "Well, the stuff about regeneration and flight is all pretty simple, but here it says that ghosts can all emit ecto energy, and that if they practice at it they can use this energy in several different ways."

Danny's curiosity was now peaked. "Like what?"

"It says here the most common form is an ecto ball. Basically a compressed ball of your own energy that you can shoot out of your hands. Have you been able to do that yet?"

"No, but it sounds dangerous. Does it say when ghosts start being able to do that? I don't know how well my parents will take to me firing ecto energy from my hands."

"Well don't worry, 'cause it says here that it's very easy to control once you learn how to do it. I swear it's like this book was _written _by a ghost or something."

"Who knows, maybe it was." Danny turned then to Tucker, who'd been surprisingly quiet for most of the conversation. "You find out anything, Tuck?"

The other boy's expression dropped. "Naw man, the internet sucks. Guess Sam's the only one who found anything useful, even if it is only one book. It's better than nothing, right?"

The bell signalling the end of lunch period rang loudly from inside the building, and the three friends silently gathered their things, making their way back into the school to dump their trays. Sam and Danny headed for Gym class while Tucker was off to Algebra, both boys groaning while Sam smiled to herself. She loved flaunting her athletic abilities, and especially loved playing at being Danny's personal coach. If she had her way, Danny would be completely fit by the time the semester was over. If only Tucker shared their class, she'd be sure to give him the same treatment. Said teen sent a sympathetic look Danny's way as they went in opposite directions down the hall.

* * *

Danny made sure to smile as he refused Sam's offer to spend an afternoon at her place with Tucker. The two gave him twin concerned looks as he casually brushed off the invitation, stating that he simply wasn't in the mood and wanted to head home. Thankfully the two accepted his reasoning, and parted ways with him once they reached Sam's block. Danny made sure to walk calmly until he was out of sight from his friends. From there he broke into a sprint, making his way to his house as quickly as possible. He didn't pause to catch his breath at the door, merely slammed it closed and ran up the stairs, only to be stopped dead by the sight of his open bedroom door.

Within his room stood his mother, who turned at the sound of his panting breaths, an expression of disapproval etched across her face.

"Now Danny, you know better than to slam the door like that. Don't think I didn't hear. And what's with this mess, young man? I swear, you become more like your father every day. And that smell! It's like something died in here."

As Maddie ranted on at her son, she began moving around the room, not noticing how Danny froze and stood tensely in the doorway, internally waging a three-way war inside his mind. One third was absolutely panicing at her words, fearing that any second the body would somehow come toppling out of the closet and he'd be found out. Another half felt enraged that someone would dare to enter his room, be near _his_ body, without his permission. And finally the last third was desperately trying to calm him down, get him to speak and stop standing petrified. Finally he seemed to come to a truce.

"Uh, Mom, what are you doing in here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing in here? Have you _smelled_ this place, Danny? That's it, mister, you are not leaving this room until it's spotless, do I make myself clear?"

Danny could only nod mutely, arms held so tensely at his sides they felt about to snap. He watched with wide eyes as his mother continued to look about the room, nose wrinkled as she seemed to try and locate the source of the smell. Finally she turned toward the closet, and that was all it took for Danny to step fully into the room and begin lightly pushing his mother toward the door.

"Alright already, I said I'd clean and I'll clean, now get out!"

Maddie was incredibly unhappy at being pushed out of the room, and leveled her son with a stern glare. "Don't take that tone with me, Danny. Now I mean it, I want you scrubbing these walls if that's what it takes. And if I come back up here to find that smell again, _I'll _be doing the cleaning. That means everything I find on the ground is going in the trash, got it, mister?"

"Got it." Was Danny's short reply as he closed the door on his mother, internally thankful that she didn't bother continuing to argue, but feeling mostly panic and anger crash over him. He stood still in his room, letting out long breaths as his mind slowed. Looking around, he had to agree with his mom that the place was a pig sty. Magazines, clothes, and various food wrappers littered the floor and every available surface. And what was that about a smell? Now that he thought about it, Danny did detect a foul smell coming from within his room. Had it been there before? He hadn't noticed it at all. Either way, he had a pretty good idea as to its source, and felt his stomach do flips at the prospect of his dead body giving itself away so obviously. At this rate it'd be no time at all before his parents or sister found it.

Danny needed a plan, and fast. But first things first.

He quickly went about picking up every discarded item in the room, either throwing it away or pushing it underneath his bed for later. He raced downstairs, heartrate picking up speed, and grabbed a scent spray can from the kitchen. He made sure to layer his room in a heavy coat of the stuff, and was relieved when the smell of lilacs masked the rotting odor almost completely. It would have to do for now.

Laying down upon his bed with a bounce, Danny fished his cellphone out from his pocket, not wanting to wait even a minute to let his friends know what was up. Perhaps they could come up with a solution. He dialed Sam's number and waited as it rang four times before he got an answer. He could hear loud blasts coming from the background, which told him that his friends were in the midst of playing Doomed.

"Danny? What is it?"

Sam already sounded concerned, and Danny wished he had better news to give her. It seemed as if everything was just spiraling from bad to worse since his death.

"Hey Sam. I uh, got a bit of a situation here. Did you guys notice any kind of...smell while you were here last Saturday?"

Silence reigned on Sam's end of the phone for several seconds before she seemed to understand. "Oh, you mean from the...Well, actually, I don't really remember. It was all so surreal, I don't think I noticed. Why?"

"Well, I kinda have a problem I need your help with. The body's really starting to reek, and my mom was in here just now complaining about it. At this rate she's gonna find it for sure. Got any ideas?"

"Oh wow...uh, hold on, me and Tucker are gonna be there soon. I think I have a plan, but it's going to be risky."

With that, the phone line went flat, and Danny lowered it, anxiety churning within as he glanced behind him at his door. In minutes he heard his doorbell sound, and he walked downstairs quickly to answer it. His friends looked as though they had jogged there, but smiled reassuringly at him as they entered. Maddie took that moment to appear from the lab, eyes glancing over the three before she leveled Danny with a look, arms crossed.

"Danny, is that room clean?"

"Yeah, Mom, it is. Sam and Tucker are going to be spending the night, okay?"

"I'm not sure, especially with the way you acted earlier. I'd better come up and check your room-"

Maddie made to move from her spot, but was interrupted by Danny.

"It's spotless, Mom, I promise. And I'm sorry about earlier, alright? Goodnight."

With those quick words Danny grabbed his friends and practically pulled them upstairs away from his mother's indignant scoff. He had the three of them in his room with the door locked in under five seconds. Turning around he was greeted by Tucker, who gave him a cautionary look.

"Dude, why're you acting so uptight? If she didn't think something was up before, she definitely does now."

"I know! I just...can't help myself. I'm freaking out, okay? This stupid body won't stop stinking up the place, and any second now my Mom's gonna find out about it!"

Sam stepped forward, raising her hands calmingly. "Shh, just cool down, Danny. No one's gonna find out anything. Just listen. I had Tucker look up the garbage pickup schedule while we were on our way here. The truck's going to be picking up trash just five blocks down from here tonight. If we're quiet about it, I think we can safely get rid of the body."

Danny's mind came to an absolute halt at the girl's words. "Wait, you mean...get rid of it, like...like permanently?"

"Well yeah! What else? You can't have that thing in your closet forever, Danny. It has to be disposed of."

"But-but how! I mean, you can't just dump a body in a dumpster and not expect them to notice when they empty out the truck."

"Don't worry, the garbage truck goes straight to the city dump once it's made its rounds for the night. And if we cover up the body good enough, they won't notice."

It was going to be risky, really risky, but Danny realised that there weren't any other options. Closing his eyes, he nodded to the others.

"Alright. When do we set out?"

With a small smile, Sam took off her backpack, which Danny hadn't noticed before. She set it on the bed and opened it as she spoke.

"The truck doesn't start its rounds until ten, so we have four hours. We'll probably want to wait until nine, so most people will be asleep. We definitely don't want to be seen."

From her bag she pulled out a folded up black cloth. As she unfolded it, Danny recognised it as her old sleeping bag, from when they went camping two summers ago. Realising its purpose, he hoped that the corpse would be able to fit in there. One thing was for sure, though; it was going to be a long five blocks.

* * *

Silence permeated from the streets of Amity Park, the pitch blackness broken by an occasional functioning street light. Darting around these lights were three shadows, two grunting quietly as they struggled with a sagging mass between them, while the other looked around cautiously at all times while they moved.

Sam peered around the street corner, making sure there was no one in sight before tapping Tucker on the shoulder, giving him the go-ahead to continue moving. In his arms he carried one end of Sam's sleeping bag, in which lay the heavy corpse of his best friend, who was currently huffing on his end of the bag as well.

When they'd uncovered the body in the closet once more, the smell nearly knocked them all over. It had somehow been contained within the closet walls, and so had built up quite a stench. Tucker and Sam tried very hard not to look at the body for too long. The skin had turned a dull shade of purple and had begun to swell slightly, its limbs sticking out stiffly as Danny dragged it from the closet. Sam had absolutely refused to touch it, leaving Tucker to help Danny maneuver it into the sleeping bag. Tucker doubted he'd be able to eat for days, no matter how hard he planned on scrubbing his hands. Danny didn't seem to share in this disgust, and had been rather blank and silent since agreeing to the plan.

After what seemed an eternity, the three teens finally reached Heartington Road, and with a quick look at Sam's cellphone, they saw that they were exactly thirty-three minutes before the truck.

Passing under the lit windows of a house, they moved quickly to the nearest dumpster, which resided in an alleyway. Once again making sure the coast was clear, Sam quickly set about lifting the heavy lid, trying to be as quiet as possible. Nothing was said the entire trip, as none of them wanted to risk getting caught. Besides, it wasn't like any of them could think of a thing to say whilst dumping a body.

Crouching down, Sam helped lift the bag, trying not to think of which body part she was touching. Together the three managed to drop it into the dumpster with a heavy thud. Wincing, they paused in the night air, waiting to see if someone would come investigating the noise.

When no one showed, Sam closed the lid and together the three ran back the way they came, keeping to the shadows still.

* * *

That night the three of them settled down in a mess of blankets and pillows on Danny's bedroom floor, his television running a late night show that none of the friends payed any attention to. They all just silently lay there, still not knowing what to say or how to act. The smell continued to linger faintly, and Tucker had spent several minutes in the bathroom scrubbing his hands raw, with Sam sitting on the tile floor beside the toilet looking a little green. Danny had just stood beside the two of them and watched mutely, hands buried in his pockets.

Before long, though, both teens were fast asleep under their blankets, leaving Danny wide awake as he stared up at his ceiling. He wanted to sleep. He wanted so badly to just forget about what had happened. Now that the body was gone there was nothing stopping him from pretending the entire incident with the Portal had never happened.

He could pretend. He could forget.

Except that he couldn't. Ever since he dragged the body from the safety of the closet, a part of Danny had cried out, getting louder and louder with each passing minute. And now it wasn't allowing Danny to rest, giving him a piercing headache as he rubbed his hands hard into his eyes. Why couldn't he just let it go!? It was gone now; garbage. Rotting away somewhere at the dump, where it would be torn into by feral dogs. Gone, lost, forgotten.

Danny felt a deep humming within him at the mental image of his old body lying open and exposed in the midst of trash, birds coming to peck at it. It made his skin prick and his head pound. As the minutes crawled by the sound of his friends' breathing was drowned out by a single thought that repeated through Danny's mind.

He needed to get his body back.

But that was insane. No, more than insane. There wasn't even a word for what Danny wanted to do. But he wanted it. He wanted his body back here safe and sound where he could always check on it; always keep it from harm.

Groaning aloud to himself, Danny rolled over onto his stomach, trying desperately to quell the endless roaring inside his head. His entire body had begun to ache, his bones feeling heavy and brittle, as though he were suffering a high fever. Bringing a hand up to his forehead, Danny wondered blearily if he was indeed coming down with a sickness. He certainly _felt_ ill. He knew what would make him feel better...he just had to go and get it.

Danny's arms shakily lifted him up, the light sheet falling from him. He felt the cool air on his sweat-covered back, making him shiver as he stood, not liking how his legs wobbled. He didn't feel right. He couldn't think straight. Why was this happening to him? He needed his body to get better, that he knew.

With slow, quiet steps, Danny made for his bedroom door, mind in a complete fog. Before he realised it he was closing the back door to his house with a click. How'd he get out here? Nothing was making sense anymore. All Danny knew was that there was something calling to him, calling desperately, and he couldn't refuse it.

In the darkness, Danny allowed the hum to overtake him, and he felt himself lift into the air moving forward at a slow pace down the streets. Soon he began to build speed and height, ascending over the tops of buildings and covering the five blocks in seconds. With a grimace he realised that the trucks had already come and gone hours ago, and quickly shot off in the direction of the dump. A small internal part of him marveled at how well he was flying, it only being his second time. But it was swallowed up entirely by the single set thought in Danny's head.

The large fence came into view, and Danny scanned below for any sign of the black sleeping bag. Frowning to himself as he slowly landed, he knew he'd be in for a long search.

Hours ticked by as Danny rummaged through piles of trash, barely noticing the smell, silent in his efforts. He took no heed of the birds circling above or the occasional sniffing dog. As the first touches of violet bloomed across the sky, Danny finally spotted the familiar material of Sam's bag, and dived into the heap he was currently searching. Feeling a grin spread across his face, Danny grasped at the bag and pulled. It came easily tumbling out from under everything, and Danny swiftly had the bag unzipped, peering inside to make sure it was truly his body.

Success! Danny nearly shouted in victory as he closed the bag once more, and with a moment's deliberation, he heaved the body up and over his shoulder, knees buckling under the weight. His arms clamped down over the corpse's legs as the upper half dangled down his back, touching the ground behind him. Sweat poured off of him as he willed with all his might for the hum to return. When it did he felt his feet begin to lift from the ground, and very slowly he ascended back into the sky.

The return journey was much slower, with Danny focusing all his energy into simply keeping airborne. By the time he returned to his home, the sun was peeking over the edge of the far horizon. He dragged the body through the back door and up the stairs, silently entering his bedroom. He was relieved to see that Tucker and Sam remained asleep, and quickly cast about for a new hiding spot, not trusting the closet any more. All he needed was a temporary spot, just to buy him some time before he could figure out a more permanent resting place for his body.

He was soon shoving the sleeping bag under his bed. It bumped into old boxes and rustled papers, and caused a slight bump to be seen in Danny's mattress. But it was hardly noticeable, so with a long sigh, Danny finally stood, basking in the feeling of rightness overtaking him. The horrible ache had gone, and the fog had lifted. Before his friends awoke, Danny decided that it was best he take a long hot shower to wash the sweat and grime off.

* * *

That morning was filled with the three teens scrambling to get ready for the school day. Danny's alarm was still busted; a detail he'd forgotten to let his friends in on, and now they were surely going to be late.

Luckily Sam and Tucker had had the mind to stuff a few extra clothes in her backpack, and in no time the two were dressed in rumpled but fresh outfits. Tucker wore his usual cargo pants with a red shirt. Sam was adorned in several black beaded necklaces and bracelets, a short dress falling mid-thigh. And Danny once again sported his thick jacket, t-shirt and jeans underneath.

Together the friends set out at a jog from the Fenton residence. Danny looked to Tucker and Sam as they rounded a street corner, and felt guilt well up at the realisation of what he had done the night before. There was no way he could ever tell them. That would involve trying to explain _why_, and even Danny himself had no clue. No, he would do what he should have done before; looked for a solution on his own. One that didn't involve taking the corpse far away from him. He needed somewhere close, but where?

Danny proceeded to spend the entire school day wracking his brain for possible hiding spots that were nearby, but that would also ensure the safety of his old body. His room was officially unfit if he didn't want it to be discovered.

_'The kitchen? No. Living room? Don't be stupid. Op Centre? Please, that thing has so many ghost detection gadgets it'd be like broadcasting myself. Hmm, what about the lab? All those weapons and machines...but maybe there's an empty storage closet or something. Who knows, that place is so cluttered I doubt Mom and Dad would be able to tell if there was a body. Wait...that's it! The weapons vault! No one ever goes in there! That could be a start...at least until I come up with something else. It's either that or...well, the Ghost Portal. But I don't even know what could happen if I put the body in there. So I guess it's the weapons vault...'_

Danny's unease didn't lift after the new hiding place was selected. It would be a gamble; a huge one. But he didn't have much choice. With a heavy sense of resignation, Danny tried to focus on the homework he'd been neglecting that week, knowing that study hall would probably be the only time he'd actually get it done.

* * *

It took a lot of convincing to get his friends to not follow him home that afternoon. In the end he had to be partially honest and tell them that he needed time alone. They had frowned at that, but accepted, and were soon off to their own homes.

As soon as Danny entered through his front door, he made a quick path for the lab, gulping back any trepidation he felt in going back down there.

Reaching the bottom step, he looked across the long room at his parents, who were staring intently into the vortex of the open Portal. Curious, as well as using any excuse to get close to the swirling green light, Danny approached.

"Hey Mom, Dad. What are you guys doing?"

Maddie didn't bother looking over her shoulder as she answered, "We're testing a few theories, Danny." The teen followed her gaze down to the floor of the lab, where a thin white rope lay, one end held in Jack's grasp while the other disappeared into the Portal itself.

Before Danny could question the situation, a shrill ringing cried out, causing him to jump slightly. Maddie reached out a hand to quiet the egg timer, which lay resting beside her. As soon as she did so, Jack began tugging at the rope, gradually pulling it from the green depths. Danny stood behind them, peering over their shoulders in intense curiosity. A small metal cage soon emerged and came to rest before Jack's kneeling form. Focusing on what was inside, Danny could see a small white shape. His father bent down, one hand resting over the cage while he inspected what lay inside. He quickly rose with a frown as he turned to Maddie.

"The same as the others."

Maddie nodded at this and picked up her clipboard, jotting down illegible notes as she spoke. "Well, I guess that proves the hypothesis."

"What hypothesis?" Danny asked.

Maddie finally looked up at him while Jack rose to his feet with the cage, walking back to one of the tables. "We're running a few tests on the Portal at the moment, hon. My theory is that because it's a ghostly realm, humans cannot survive inside. There'd be no oxygen, for one thing."

"Sooo, that?" Danny gestured back toward his father.

"Oh, that was part of the testing. We bought a few mice at the pet store earlier today. We've been sending them into the Ghost Zone to test out the ability for living creatures to survive. So far it seems I was right. Every mouse we've used has come back dead; suffocated from the lack of oxygen."

Danny felt sympathy now for the poor mice, but suddenly a thought struck him. One he'd dare not linger on for more than a second all throughout the school day. He watched as his mother stood up from her spot, carrying her clipboard and timer to her own table, eyes flitting over the notes behind her goggles.

"Uh, so what you're basically saying is...no human can go in there? Like, at all?"

"Well it sure seems that way, hon. At least until we find a human willing to take the risk." Maddie's small sigh showed just how little hope she had for that thought coming true. No one in their right mind would step into that Portal. At least, no one living.

And that was exactly Danny's thought as he stood rooted on the spot, standing before the bright green of the Ghost Portal. He stared into it, hardly feeling the low vibration as his body grew accustomed to it. He found himself feeling rather calm, as he did during those long hours spent in front of the corpse. Maybe...just maybe, _he_ could go inside the Portal. He felt his breathing increase at the notion, fear settling in. He wasn't sure if he could survive in there, either. But he trusted his mother's logic, and if her theories proved true, it would be the perfect place to hide a certain body, where no one could ever find it.

* * *

Danny was forced to wait until the small hours of the morning that night, when his parents finally seemed too exhausted to go on with their experiments. He heard the sound of them moving slowly up to their bedroom, yawing quietly and speaking lowly amongst themselves. When he was sure they wouldn't be coming out again, Danny quickly pulled the sleeping bag from underneath his bed, dragging it as quietly as possible down the stairs, flinching at every low creak.

Coming upon the closed door to the lab, Danny made sure to open and close it behind him as silently as possible. His parents tended to have fine-tuned hearing whenever it came to their precious lab.

At last he found himself standing before the Portal, it's luminescent glow the only light source in the room. Danny felt a distinct pull toward the green light, and all apprehension left as the familiar hum began within him, linking with the very same hum of the Portal. It all felt so comfortable and safe, and Danny found himself stepping back into the Portal before he even realised it, bag following soon after.

Danny stepped backward out into the lab, and dropped the body in surprise as confusion held him. Didn't he just step _inside_ the Portal? Why was he then back in his house? Wait, this wasn't right...

Danny took in his surroundings. He appeared to be back in his parents' lab, but something was off about it. It appeared the same, yet different. There was a sort of warped quality to everything. The walls stood solidly on all sides, but appeared as though they would be easily malliable if touched. Various instruments and devices were all misshapen and discolored, shadows of their counterparts. Their dead lights told Danny that they would most certainly not operate like the versions in his parents' real lab, if they could even function at all.

_'This must be the Ghost Zone. It has to be. But why does it look so much like the lab?'_

Still heavily confused, but fascinated, Danny proceeded to grab hold of the sleeping bag, dragging it up the stairs. He cautiously opened the door, and found the rest of the Fenton house to be much like the lab. Walls were slightly off-color, items misshapen and strange. A quick look at the tv set in the living room revealed nothing but static playing out on its screen.

The entirety of the house was bathed in a dark, glowing light, which cast everything within it in shadow. Unsettled but not afraid any longer, Danny made for the stairs. He entered his room and proceeded to spend several minutes walking around it, staring at his computer, which refused to turn on, the screen bending underneath his fingers when he touched it, as though it were made of soft plastic. Picture frames which held no photographs sat upon his shelf, and outside his window Danny could only see a blank vastness, interrupted here and there by distant objects, unable to be discerned clearly from their distance.

Coming back to himself, Danny opened up his closet door. Inside there were no clothes, and the boxes, once inspected, held nothing inside them. Casting them aside, Danny felt a sense of irony come over him as he lowered the covered body down onto the floor inside. A smile crept upon his face as he closed the door, feeling secure for the first time in days. He had a hiding place. A really good one that no human, namely his family, could ever happen upon. And what's more, he could come back any time he wanted to.

Exiting his bedroom, Danny closed the door quietly behind him, eyes moving to stare down the hall at his parents' room. Nervousness creeping back in, he walked steadily toward it. Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, Danny slowly opened the door just enough to peek his head inside. He wasn't sure what he expected to find, but his parents' warped but empty room brought him great comfort. They weren't here. Of course they weren't. They were back in the human world, asleep and none the wiser.

With that free thought in mind, Danny proceeded to slam the door shut as loudly as possible, smile back on his face, as he stomped down the stairs, making all the noise he could. Once he was back down in the lab, Danny found himself wishing he could remain longer. Maybe just a few hours. He quickly shook his head to clear it of such desires.

_'No, I can't. It'd be too big a risk. What if I fell asleep or something? Can't have anyone seeing me come out of this place.'_

Happiness melted off of him as soon as he exited through the Portal, the hum enveloping him for a brief moment before he found himself once again in the blackness of the lab. The normal lab. He mentally sighed in disappointment, longing already for the safety and serenity of the Ghost Zone.

Pushing such feelings aside, Danny crept silently back up to his room, getting underneath his bed covers and closing his eyes. Exhaustion from going two nights with little rest blanketed him, and soon he was deep within hazy dreams of flight and green lights.


	6. Chapter 6

(Wow, that new Imagine Dragons song 'Monster' sounds like it was made for this fic. I've been listening to it nonstop and it really has inspired a lot of this chapter as well as future ones. I suggest any who want to hear an amazing song go look it up on youtube.)

Chapter 6: If It's Hunting Season

Danny exited his bedroom in the morning, eyes still caked shut. In his half-asleep state, he didn't notice his mother crouched low in the hallway, and gave a yelp as he tripped over her, landing roughly on the carpeted floor.

Maddie looked up in surprise from where she had been scanning the walls, standing as she spoke. "Oh, Danny; I didn't see you, hon. Are you alright?"

Danny rose as well, one hand touching his chin, which was suffering a mild case of carpet burn. "Yeah Mom, I'm fine. What were you doing down there, anyway?"

The woman held up a small handheld device. It looked rather like a miniature metal detector, and emitted a low steady beep. "Your father and I are scanning the area for ectoplasmic energy."

Danny felt the tingle of nerves as he stared down at the device, unconsciously taking a step further away from it. "Why? Did you see a ghost?"

"No, but we definitely heard _something_ last night. Your father woke me up in the middle of the night claiming he heard our door slam shut. I thought he was just dreaming but then there was a sound of feet stomping on the stairs."

Maddie continued in her search as she spoke, kneeling and moving the scanner slowly along the wall. "I went to look but saw no one there, and by that time the sounds had already stopped. But we have to make sure whatever it was isn't still here somewhere. I'm surprised you didn't hear anything, sweetie, it was all pretty loud. It even woke your sister."

"Huh." That was all Danny was able to mutter in response, and he quickly turned away from his mother and walked quickly into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He could still make out the faint beeping of the detection device as he leant heavily against the countertop, staring at his reflection in silence. They had heard sounds in the night, sounds he himself had made while in the Ghost Zone. But how? And why?

_'Are they somehow linked? But...but that doesn't make any sense! I looked in their room; they weren't there! How could they have heard me when I was in a completely different plane? Ugh, this is all too confusing...'_

Danny lowered his head onto his arms, elbows digging into the countertop as he sighed desolately. Just what he needed...another thing to worry about. Well, at least the problem with his corpse was taken care of.

_'That's right, I nearly forgot. My body...'_

A hint of a smile bloomed on Danny's face at the thought of his old body safe and sound, accessible whenever he so chose. That was definitely something to feel happy about.

Somewhat relieved, Danny picked up his hairbrush, quickly combing the knots from his hair before exiting out into the hall once more. His mother appeared to have moved on, and he soon spotted her down in the living room with Jack. Both stood on opposite ends of the room, scanning various items. Jazz sat frowning at them from the kitchen table.

Also frowning, Danny decided to skip breakfast, and headed straight for the front door. He wasn't sure how good those detectors were, but he wasn't going to chance one of them going off if they got too close.

* * *

Danny stared down at the paper sitting upon his desk. He didn't dare look up at Mr Falluca as the man passed him by, moving down the row of desks, handing out that Monday's test. Danny had gotten a D. He let out a resigned breath, slouching lower in his seat. Ever since the accident he'd been so preoccupied with issue after issue he'd barely had time to study. Not that he'd studied much before, but still...

Danny had always managed to skate by on C's with the occasional B here and there, but this...his parents would flip if they saw this. Well, they'd flip if they knew he had a C average, but luckily their obsession kept them from keeping an active watch over Danny's school career.

_'But if my grades start slipping too much, Mr Falluca will call them for sure...Man, I gotta buckle down fast...'_

As any sulking teenager, Danny proceeded to spend the rest of the class lamenting his grade and internally complaining about the school system, all the while failing to write down the day's lecture notes.

Once the bell rang he quickly made his way to his locker, followed closely by Sam and Tucker. They must have sensed his foul mood throughout the class, because Tucker soon spoke up as they all opened their locker doors.

"Dude, you okay? You look upset. Dash do something again?"

"It's not Dash, I just...wish I had more time to focus on my school work lately. I got a D on that stupid test we had Monday."

Tucker let out a low whistle at that, gathering his homework for the day and closing his locker door, spinning the lock dial. "Woah, man, that test counted for a lot. Cheer up though, it was hard for me, too. Leave it to Falluca to give out a huge test like that so early in the school year."

Hope sparked in Danny as he looked to his friend. "Well, what did you make?"

"An A-."

And the hope fizzled out. Danny shoved his Biology textbook into his cluttered locker, hands searching out the familiar feel of his Algebra book as he looked to Sam, who rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry Danny, I got a C on that dumb test. It was hard enough for those of us who had _time_ to study. You've had a lot on your mind lately; don't let it get you down. You'll bounce back. And besides, you can always raise your grade. That's what _I_ plan on doing."

"Raise my grade? How?"

The three teens left their lockers, books in hand, and made their way to the school stairs, Sam explaining along the way.

"By doing a Biology report. I'm going to do mine on the rare Purple-Backed Gorilla. There's only two left, both male. After they die out, the species is gone forever. What say you help me out and we can share the credit? It should be enough to bump both our grades up a letter."

Not liking the idea of doing extra work for school, of all things, but also not wanting to risk his parents finding out he got a D, Danny nodded with a half smile as they reached the second floor. They came to a stop outside Sam and Tucker's next period, Study Hall.

"Alright, I guess it won't be so bad, especially if I'm not doing it alone."

Sam smiled widely. "Great. Tucker's going to help out as well, and together the three of us can prove once and for all that Sampson deserves to be set free!"

Danny lowered his eyebrows at his friend. "Sam, this isn't just another project to further your agenda, is it?"

Sam's only answer was to scowl heavily at him, causing Danny to raise his arms in deference.

"Alright alright, I get it! I'll still help, since we'll be getting better grades out of it."

Sam smirked victoriously. "Good. We'll meet this afternoon at my place. We're going to be staying the night in the zoo, so bring anything important. We have until Friday to hand in our paper, so we'll need all the time we can get to study Sampson."

This gave Danny pause. "Wait, we're staying in the zoo? At night? How are we gonna pull that off?"

"Don't worry, my Dad knows one of the guys who works the security there. As long as we don't wander around or break things, we'll be fine."

"Yep! And Sam made me the time manager, so you guys are _sure_ to get this project done on time!" Tucker held up his PDA with a smile.

"Only because you wouldn't shut up until I gave you some sort of job to do." Sam combated with a frown.

The bell sounded, and on instinct Tucker and Sam immediately side-stepped into the open doorway of their classroom. Danny quickly turned and began to run down the hall toward his own class. Mrs Smith was incredibly strict, and he was bound to get an earful for walking through the door late, even by a minute.

As he skid to a stop outside the classroom and opened the door, Danny became too caught up in the shrill, reprimanding voice of the Algebra teacher to feel the invisible eyes observing him from nearby.

* * *

Six hours into the nightly vigil of Sampson's exhibit, and Danny was thinking long and hard on the worth of raising his grade. So far he was running out of reasons to stick around.

Sam was completely enraptured, watching the large ape down below with a pair of binoculars. The head of security had escorted them into a small room at the top of a tall building when they'd arrived, stating that the three were _not_ to leave it unless an emergency were to occur.

As Danny stared blankly at the pale pink walls, part of him wished for such an emergency to happen. At least then he'd have a reason to run screaming from this god-awful boredom.

Sam was speaking lowly to them as she continued to look down on the gorilla, seeming completely unfazed by exhaustion like the two males.

"He's so amazing, isn't he, you guys? So mysterious, so majestic. The world's going to be a dark and lonely place once these beautiful creatures die out for good."

"Sam, that thing's done nothing but scratch its butt since we got here. What are we supposed to be learning again?"

Sam scoffed, glancing briefly over her shoulder at the two boys now laying down on the floor. "Oh come on, Danny, think about it. You are looking at an animal that's about to become extinct from the Earth. Just think of all the things he has to teach us, that'll be lost once he's gone? Man, I wish we could go down there and get a closer look, what about you? Danny?"

Sam turned, only to find Tucker and Danny deep asleep on the tile floor. They yawned and stretched, arms and legs tangled together in a heap, the sound of Tucker's even breathing filling the air.

_'Well, at least they lasted this long...'_

A sudden idea coming over her, Sam smiled evilly as she held up the camera which hung around her neck. Aiming it at the two boys, she quickly snapped a photo of the two, looking at it on the small digital screen. Oh yeah, that would definitely come in handy one day...

A thunderous screech came from below, and Sam's grin dropped as she turned to look down below. Sampson could be seen in his cage, running around wildly in circles and beating on the bars. He was obviously under extreme duress, and Sam could not bring herself to ignore him.

Forgetting the security guard's warning, the gothic girl fled out the door and down the spiral staircase. She quickly made it to the exhibit, finding Sampson in much the same state. He seemed to understand that she was there to help, quickly moving toward her with an intent look in his eyes. Sam marveled up at the amazing creature.

"What is it, what's wrong?"

A blast rocked the ground, and Sam fell against the cage monitor, not noticing how she landed on the buttons. The gorilla was once again going mad, yelling and running about in his cage. Righting herself, she looked toward the source of the explosion, and saw a small plume of smoke rising up from the tiger's pen nearby. From within it emerged a large shape, skin shining under the reflection of the moon. A green flame fluttered atop the strange being as it lifted into the sky, moving silently toward the building Danny and Tucker were in. With a sharp gasp, Sam sprinted back toward where she'd come from, soon reaching the top of the stairway and flinging the door open.

She was greeted by the sight of a huge metallic man hovering over her friends. She tried to call to them, but all that came out was a shrill scream. It seemed to be enough for the intruder to notice her, however, and with a menacing scowl he shot at her. She closed her eyes, bracing for an impact, for pain. The gooey, cold sensation that clamped over her mouth was not what she had expected. Her hands came up instantly to pull at the offending feeling, but Sam found that she couldn't remove the strange substance that silenced her.

The man looked from the girl, satisfied that she wouldn't be a problem, and gazed down upon Sam's friends, namely Danny. A slow smile spread across his face. "Now, for the ghost child..."

A white blur pushed Sam to the side, and she crashed with a grunt into the railing, already feeling the bruise that was sure to form. Looking up, she saw to her astonishment that Sampson had gotten out of his cage, and was clinging to the back of whatever that creature was, bashing a large fist into the metal skin as the man spun quickly around the room. Suddenly his entire body seemed to glow, and Sam could see through him for but a moment, Sampson falling off of him and crashing to the floor. Before the gorilla could reach the stranger again, he was melting through the wall and vanishing from sight. The cold gag around Sam's mouth dissolved under her touch, and her mouth hung open mutely as Danny and Tucker opened their eyes blearily at the noise.

They immediately spotted the large ape standing in the room, and both boys shrieked and slid back hastily against the wall, arms now clamping tighter around each other.

The gorilla paid them no mind, beating upon the wall where the creature had disappeared through. Sam rushed forward, holding up her arms, speaking in what she hoped was a soothing tone.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. It's okay. That's a good boy, Sampson."

Upon hearing his name, Sampson paused, looking down on the girl. Silence reigned, broken only by the loud huffing breath of the gorilla. Sam swallowed her nervousness and smiled gently up at the huge animal, arms lowering slightly as she kept her voice calm and light.

"That's right, just calm down. You're alright, Sampson. Now what say we head back to your home, huh? Does that sound nice?"

The gorilla lowered onto all fours, stepping over the legs of the terrified boys and coming close to Sam. She leaned back slightly, craning her neck up to look Sampson in the face as he sniffed at her. Thankfully he seemed to like what he smelled, and brought a hand up, fingers clumsily moving over her shirt and shiny choker. His eyes held nothing but curiosity now, and Sam slowly began backing up down the stairway, speaking placating nonsense as she did so, and to her immense relief the gorilla followed dutifully, entirely enraptured in exploring every part of the teenager from her jewelry to her hair.

Finally they reached the cage door, and Sampson was all too happy to follow her inside, looking about himself as he recognised where he was. Sam quickly slipped around him, moving through the open doorway and hitting the red button on the monitor next to it. The door closed with a clang, Sampson coming to stand behind it, hand raised to the bars as he stared out at mutely at Sam. The girl gave a small wave to the animal, turning to find both boys standing before her, mouths hanging open and eyes wide in wonder. Danny was the first to find his voice.

"What the hell just happened!? Was that gorilla really just out of its cage, 'cause that's what it looked like, _Sam_." The accusatory way in which he said her name had said teen frowning at him, folding her arms defensively.

"I didn't let him out! At least, I don't think I did..."

Tucker began laughing, ease settling over the air now that the gorilla was safely behind cage bars. "Oh man, wait until we tell everyone at school that you let out a four-hundred pound gorilla!"

Sam's response to this was to quirk an eyebrow as she turned on her camera, holding it up for both male's to see as the screen showed the last picture to have been taken. Their faces went rather blank as they stood awkwardly.

"Or, we could just forget all about it."

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like we have any proof that she did it."

Sam smiled.

* * *

The three friends entered the Fenton residence in the early hours of the morning, trying their best to be quiet. Danny could've fallen asleep right there on the living room carpet, his eyes drifting shut constantly.

The door to the lab opened and Maddie emerged from it, almost as if she could sense that the kids has arrived. She turned on the kitchen light, looking across the room at the teens, who blinked like vampires in the sudden brightness.

"Oh Danny, look at you," Maddie said disapprovingly, bringing her hands to rest on her hips. "I don't know if I like this overnight zoo research."

Danny smiled as best he could through the exhaustion, wanting nothing but to go to sleep as soon as possible. "Mom come on, we're just a bunch of kids. In the zoo. At night. Alone."

The resulting silence shared between the four of them told Danny that this perhaps wasn't the most eloquent of ways to reassure his mother.

"We'll be in my room."

With that the friends were quickly ascending the stairs toward Danny's room without another word, looking forward to a few hours rest until they had to get ready for school. The dark-haired teen opened his door, eyes landing on his bed for the briefest of moments before it was blocked from view by a hulking figure which appeared before him.

"Hello again, ghost child." The creature said with a wide grin, raising his arm and firing point blank at Danny. A great blue net covered the boy, and he was forced into a compressed ball on the floor, his friends jumping back in surprise. They had no time to react before Danny was pulled into his own room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Danny could hear the sound of his friends pulling futilely at his door from behind, but his mind was much more focused on the being standing before him with a victorious grin.

"Ah, the ghost child in its natural habitat."

Danny finally found his voice, and was internally relieved at how steady it sounded. "Why are you doing this!?"

"That, ghost child, is a secret I have been paid to keep. All you need to know is that it was I, Skulker, who brought your doom upon you!"

With that, the creature took a step toward Danny, one heavy metal foot coming down on the teen's model rocket with a crunch. Danny felt a bit of the fear boil into anger. Why was this stupid ghost showing up and giving him such a hard time? Danny mentally reached inside himself, seeking out the sleeping hum within. It happily awoke and spread out to all his limbs, creating a low vibration under Danny's skin.

The creature frowned in an almost mocking way as he continued to speak, taking another step forward, seeming to delight in the slow approach toward his prey. "Pity, I had hoped you'd put up more of a fight."

_'Fight? Fight...Fight! That's right! I can fight back, I can fight back!'_

Somehow the idea of fighting back hadn't occurred to Danny before, but remembering Sam's words on how all ghosts came with abilities, Danny prayed that he wouldn't be the one exception.

Knowing that he could pass through objects, Danny felt the hum change, and grow into a pulse. It reminded Danny of times when he'd banged his elbow sharply on something, and the teeth-grinding sensation that would echo up his arm. This pulse, however, crashed through his entire body in waves, and Danny forcefully stood up, his body moving through the net seamlessly. He couldn't stop the small grin when he looked down to see the net lying useless on the floor at his feet.

Looking up, he was able to see the last traces of surprise disappear from Skulker's face as it shifted into amused. Before Danny could blink, the hulking creature was flying toward him, and Danny quickly threw his body to the side, narrowly avoiding a collision with the much larger ghost. This caused Skulker to crash loudly into the door, a small crack appearing on its centre.

Danny's eyes widened as he realised there was no where for him to run, Skulker turning and charging toward him like a bull in an arena.

* * *

Sam and Tucker were leaning all their body weight against Danny's bedroom door, hoping to break it open, when a sudden force against the other side sent the two teens crashing down onto the floor. Sam gasped as Tucker's elbow dug sharply into her stomach, quickly scrambling from underneath him as they both gaped at Danny's door, which now wore a small crack in its centre.

"Hey, keep it down out there!" Came the voice of Jazz from her bedroom down the hall. At the same time Sam could hear Danny's mother coming from the lab once more, annoyance carrying through her tone as it reached the two friends.

"Danny, kids! What are you three doing up there? If you've broken something you're going to be in trouble!"

Not wanting Maddie to come investigating, Sam stood and quickly made for the stairs, Tucker following. Maddie stood in the kitchen as the two reach the bottom of the stairs. She held a questioning look as she began to speak to them. "Sam, Tucker, where's Danny-"

She was interrupted by Jack, who came bounding out of the lab, whipping off his goggles and looking around the room wildly.

"Did you hear that, Maddie? There's a ghost in the house!"

Maddie sighed up at her husband, raising an arm in supplication. "Jack, there's no ghost. The kids are jus-"

A thunderous crash came from above, and Tucker and Sam flinched where they stood, torn between wanting to go to Danny's aid, and knowing he'd want them to keep his parents from his room at all costs.

As the adults both began moving toward the stairs, Sam stepped in their path, arms waving. "Uh, Danny's in his room...uh, exercising?"

"Exercising?" Maddie looked thoroughly confused and then worried when another loud crash sounded from upstairs. Before Sam could think of some way to stall them, the Fenton parents were bounding up the staircase, teens following behind.

As they reached the top, Jazz's bedroom door opened, said young adult standing cautiously behind it. When she spotted her parents, she opened the door the entire way. "Mom, Dad! What's going on?"

"Stay in your room, Jasmine, there's a ghost in the house!" Jack replied with gusto as he attempted to turn the handle on Danny's door. When it refused to give, he took to beating against it with his shoulder. The already damaged door survived only three hits before it gave way with a loud crack. Jack fell into the room, followed closely by Maddie, who held a hand out behind her to signal to the kids to stay behind.

"Danny?" Maddie called out into the wrecked room. Sam and Tucker peered in around the adults to find the room empty of its owner. Maddie and Jack began frantically searching about the bedroom, calling out for their son in mounting fear and confusion. It was this moment that Sam swore she heard a faint cry coming from below, from the lab.

Thinking fast, Sam grabbed Tucker by the wrist and flew down the stairs, not waiting for the Fentons to take notice. She sprinted into the lab at full force, only to skid to a halt once she was in the room, Tucker smacking hard into the back of her. She stumbled forward slightly, only vaguely aware of Tucker closing and locking the door behind them.

The large machine-like being stood in the centre of the lab, holding Danny aloft by his neck. He was grinning widely and stepping toward the open Ghost Portal, Danny kicking feebly in an attempt to escape. He'd tried very hard to fight back against this other ghost, only to find himself dodging and running from every attack. In the end he'd just run out of strength. Through the ringing in his ears he had heard Skulker say something about taking him into the Ghost Zone, where he could complete his contract without bothersome humans interfering.

The green glow of the Ghost Zone graced Skulker's face, and Danny could feel the faint buzz growing near, panic welling within him. Suddenly a cry rang out, and Skulker was stumbling forward violently, Danny swinging in his grasp. He caught a flash of black as he was released from the ghost's hold and flung across the room. He landed painfully on the ground, head cracking against the tile, a blurred vision recognisable as Tucker running toward him.

He lifted his head and looked across the room at Skulker, just in time to watch in horror as the large ghost lifted Sam from his back by her arm, throwing her far across the room, where she too landed in a heap. Danny thought he could hear a distinct pounding coming from somewhere, but wasn't sure if it was just his head. His vision finally cleared as Tucker stood in front of him, arms held out in a weak attempt to keep the approaching ghost from reaching Danny.

With a flick of his wrist, Skulker sent Tucker crashing to the floor, the force of his hit causing various items from Tucker's hoodie to land on the white tile. A crunch was heard as Skulker stepped on one such item. The ghost looked down, pausing in his advance on Danny, and his green eyes widened as he beheld Tucker's PDA, which just barely missed being smashed under his boot.

The ghost bent down and picked up the small device, either forgetting where he was or not bothering to care about the three teenagers who struggled to their feet. "This technology, so sleek, so advanced..." He seemed to be speaking to himself, voice low. He glanced down at his own right arm, obviously not liking what he saw there. The old square device already on his arm did have a few wires showing, and Danny had caught him beating on it once during their fight when it refused to shoot at him. Seemed even ghosts could have outdated equipment. Who knew.

"I wonder..." With those final two words, Danny could only watch in silent fascination as Skulker ripped off the old black square, wires and small metal pieces sprinkling across the floor. He quickly replaced the empty space on his arm with Tucker's PDA, and Danny was amazed to see wires emerge from the metal arm, digging into the new device and holding it in place. Skulker smiled once more, and his body seemed to glow with a bit more vibrance than before. To Danny's horror he once again turned his gaze on him, stepping closer and reaching down.

Danny felt the cold, hard fingers wrap around his neck once again, lifting him, when suddenly a beeping tune rang out in the lab, echoing off the walls. Skulker released Danny a second time, looking down at the PDA in confusion. The screen lit up, illuminating his face.

"What the-" A pair of metal wings emerged from the back of Skulker's body, and without another words the ghost was rocketing into the air, fazing through the cieling, a look of utter confusion written across his shiny face.

The three teens were left in silence for but a moment before the pounding returned. It was the lab door, Danny realised, as he tried to stand up. His neck ached and his legs wobbled as he stood, a dull pain ringing throughout his entire body. The hum had long since left, and Danny felt too weak to attempt to call it back, despite his instincts screaming at him to do so.

Sam and Tucker were already on their feet, both of them looking silently at Danny, eyes wide with a mixture of concern, confusion and fear. Sam was sporting a busted lip, which dripped blood down from her chin and onto the tile, and Tucker cradled his right elbow close to his chest.

"Hello? Who's in there? Open up!" Came the voice of Jack Fenton as the beating resumed on the lab door. Danny stumbled quickly forward, unlocking the door and moving aside as Jack fell into the room. He was huffing and holding his left shoulder, mumbling to himself as he looked about the room. "I knew I shouldn't have bought the reinforced door for the lab."

Maddie squeezed past him, and her eyes fell on the three kids instantly, a gasp rising from her as she went to Danny. "Oh, Danny, what happened? How did you get down here? Was there a ghost in the house? Where is it now?"

A little dizzy from her rapid-fire questions, Danny could only stand mutely as his mother held his face in her hands, lifting it to look at his neck. The burning ache there must've shown, because Maddie was wincing at the sight and pulling Danny into a tight hug. "Oh my poor baby, we're so sorry, we should've gotten down here sooner!"

Danny was finally able to speak, voice a bit rough as he pulled away from Maddie. "I-it's alright, Mom. A ghost _was _here, but it flew off. Heh, I think it got a look at all the ghost hunting equipment and got scared."

At this Maddie smiled softly, Jack giving a short laugh as he walked further into the room, looking rather victorious, as though he himself had gone toe to toe with the ghost. "Hah! Must've realised who it was messing with! No one comes into the house of Jack Fenton and gets away with it. Maddie, to the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle! Maybe we can spot the spook on the road."

With that the large man was bounding back up the stairs, Maddie turning quickly to the three kids before following. "You kids go and fix yourselves up, med kit is under the sink in the kitchen. Danny, sweetie, we'll probably be home later tonight. Depends on whether we can track this ghost down or not."

She placed a quick kiss on Danny's cheek and then sprinted up the stairs and out of the lab. Danny slouched where he stood; some things just never change.

Now that they were alone, the three teens all seemed to curl in on themselves, hands tenderly feeling over their various injuries.

"Danny, are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard." Sam asked.

"I think I'm alright, actually. The pain's already gone." Danny replied, and it was true. The pulsing in his head had receded almost a minute after it started, and the burning on his neck was all but gone. His friends didn't share in his luck, it seemed, still looking very much hurt.

"Come on, let's get upstairs." He said, leading the way back into the house. Just as his mother said, Danny found a small white medical kit underneath the sink, laying among various cleaning supplies. Opening the lid, Danny found a bottle of peroxide along with cotton balls. He quickly set about dabbing at Sam's cut lip, speaking to Tucker as he did so.

"So what was that all about? Why'd he suddenly fly off like that? I didn't even know ghosts could _use _human technology."

"I don't know, man. Damn, I had two more payments on that thing." Tucker tentatively flexed out his arm, flinching a bit in pain but seeming to possess full mobility.

Finished with Sam's lip, the girl began speaking as Danny put away the supplies. "Am I the only one weirded out by what just happened? He literally just flew off, right in the middle of almost capturing you!"

"Hey, I'm not about to question my good luck. All I know is I'm alive to see another day. Well, sort of." Danny snapped the med kit shut.

Sam was about to argue her point, but Tucker suddenly caught sight of the living room window, and pointed toward it. "You guys, we're gonna be late to school if we don't hurry."

Both teens turned to look, and saw bright morning light streaming into the house. Argument forgotten for the time being, all three friends fled upstairs to quickly gather their things and make for the high school.

* * *

"Danny, that ghost, there's something I've got to tell you." Sam spoke in between panted breathes as they jogged down the sidewalk. "It was at the zoo last night. I was going to tell you once we all got some sleep. I really didn't think it would come back."

"What?" Danny looked at her as they paused at an intersection, waiting for the red hand sign to change. "You mean Skulker?"

"That's its name? How do you know?"

"Well, he kinda announces it a lot." Danny shrugged. The sign switched to a white figure walking, and the teens moved quickly across the street.

"So that was the ghost that attacked you last Friday?" Tucker asked as they neared the school.

"Yeah. For some reason he's hunting me, but he won't tell me why. Something about being paid for silence."

"Dude, you're a ghost one week and already someone's paying to have you killed. Wait, can ghosts _be_ killed?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out."

Reaching the front steps to Casper High, the three halted all ghost conversation, silently agreeing to bring it up again later when they were alone. For now, they had classes to sprint to before the morning bell rang.

* * *

Tucker and Danny entered the salon, by habit moving to sit in two of the chairs near the front. Sam was already sitting down in her favorite chair, with her favorite stylist messing with her hair and asking what she wished to have done.

"Oh y'know, just the same thing as always." Was Sam's reply.

The woman hummed at this and rummaged around in her desk's drawers, pulling out various items as Tucker and Danny yawned and slouched in their seats. Sam was having her tri-weekly hair maintenance done, and it was always extremely boring for the boys. Luckily it took much less time now that Sam's hairstyle had changed. When it had been long, both guys had felt about to pass out from sheer boredom before she was finally finished. Now each trip only lasted a few minutes. But the pain of two hours spent in a salon with nothing to do was still fresh in their memories, and so every trip they still found their steps dragging.

The stylist quickly set about shaving the right side of Sam's head, the hairs having grown out quickly. The left side took a bit more time, with delicate scissor and comb work to keep it exactly the way Sam liked it. When she was finally finished, Sam hopped from the chair and brushed a few strands of fallen hair off her shirt. Both boys sat straighter in their chairs, eyes following her to the front counter as she fished out her wallet to pay.

The ceiling burst open, debris and concrete falling in the middle of the aisle. Sharp screams of surprise filled the building as a metallic figure lowered down amidst the cloud of dust. Through the thick fog Danny could make out a pair of green eyes, locking on him, and he stood from his seat quickly. The pulse was back before Danny even realised it, beating strongly within him and he felt the tingle spread to his fingertips.

Running on impulse, Danny lifted up and was shooting forward into the debris cloud, aiming a punch for the two eyes. Of course, his shoddy fighting skills were showing, and Skulker expertly dogged his attack. Danny caught sight of a large fist flying toward his head, and braced himself for the impact. When the fist swung through him, he halted in surprise before mentally smacking himself.

_'You can pass through things, duh.'_

Unfortunately his lack of awareness landed him right in Skulker's grasp, clenched tightly between two metal hands.

"Now I have you, ghost chi-"

An electronic tune rang out amid the calls and screams in the salon, and Skulker and Danny both looked down on the larger ghost's right arm, where Tucker's PDA still rested. It's screen was lit up, flashing small text, which Skulker read aloud in his confusion.

"Go to library, look up book on eating habits of Purple-Backed Gorilla?"

His wings once again shot out from his back, and Danny quickly fazed himself from Skulker's grasp as the other ghost shot into the sky, shouting as he went.

"No! The hunt is not over!"

Danny's feet met the ground and he quelled the hum inside him as the dust finally settled. He looked around, seeing various salon staff members hiding under their desks in fright, looking up through the hole in the ceiling as though the metal ghost would return any moment. Sam and Tucker ran to him from their spot against a wall, grasping his arms and making sure he was alright.

"Danny! Are you okay?"

"Dude, that ghost really has it out for you."

Danny didn't have time to respond to either of these comments before Sam was pulling all of them outside the building and out onto the street. Police sirens could be heard faintly as Sam grabbed Danny by his shoulders, eyebrows knitted together as she spoke.

"Danny, why'd you use your ghost abilities?"

That had Danny confused, and a little defensive at her tone. "What do you mean? What else was I supposed to do?"

The girl sighed at this, as though the answer should've been obvious. "Danny, no one can know about you being dead, remember? What if one of those people in there saw you?"

Danny's world shrunk as he realised just how right Sam was. He smacked a hand over his eyes, berating himself.

"Oh man, how could I have been so stupid! But how am I supposed to fight off this ghost if he keeps showing up in public?"

"Easy, Danny. You're just going to have to get a disguise."

"A disguise? What is this, a Marvel comic?"

"Exactly, dude!" Tucker joined the conversation, smile of excitement growing on his face. "We could come up with an awesome hero suit for you! And you could carry it around, or even wear it underneath your clothing like Superman, and-"

"Woah woah woah! Hero? I don't think so, guys. I just don't want to get turned into mince meat by some metal freak."

"But think of all the cool action hero stuff you could do, man!" Tucker was practically seeing stars as his grin grew wider, seeming caught in his own little fantasy. "You could fly around the city, swoop in to save damsels in distress, rescue kitten from trees. You'd be famous!"

Danny frowned at his friend. None of that seemed appealing to him in the slightest. He didn't want to be some comic book hero, flying around and rescuing people. He just wanted to survive, and get the hang of these abilities of his. And he wanted to do it in peace, without big hulking green ghosts coming after him.

The sirens were growing louder, and the three friends decided mutually that they didn't want to be around when the police showed. As they walked quickly up the street, Tucker pulled a shiny black PDA from his pocket, flipping through it.

"Alright, we should head to the library now if you guys wanna stay on schedule."

"How many of those things do you have?" Sam asked, eyeing the new device.

"Just two. Luckily I made a back-up copy of our schedule and beamed it into here. That's global thinking, Sam, the sign of a true time manager."

"Of course, Tucker, you're doing an amazing job." Sam said in a flat tone.

* * *

They entered the library doors, and immediately Danny was captured in another blue net. He was pulled into the centre of the room, where he caught glances of various library staff and customers held to walls by some strange green substance. A pair of boots stomped into his line of vision, and Danny looked up to see Skulker grinning down on him.

The ghost opened his mouth to give another victorious speech, but the familiar tune coming from his arm stopped him. He looked down at his arm in exasperation.

"Go to the newstand and purchase magazine with article about Purple-Backed Gorilla."

This time it was with a resigned slouch that Skulker lifted into the air, carried on metal wings back through the hole in the ceiling, which he no doubt created upon his arrival. The net dissolved soon after his departure, leaving Danny crouched in a ball on the floor. The sound of yelps and heavy thuds sounding simultaneously as the library patrons were released from their bindings as well.

Sam and Tucker were there to help him to his feet, Tucker pulling out his PDA as he spoke.

"Weird, it's like he still has my schedule."

"Well, I guess we'll just blow the newstand for now. It was like he was waiting for us here." Danny said, looking up at the large hole in the roof of the tall building.

"I think he was." Sam replied. "Our schedule told us to come to the library, and Skulker was already here waiting for us. It's like he's following Tucker's schedule, but why?"

"Maybe he doesn't have a choice?" Tucker said slowly.

Sam gasped, turning to the two boys. "That's it! He's somehow bound by your schedule, Tucker!"

"But how? Couldn't he just reprogram it?"

"I don't know, but this could be a huge advantage for us." Sam tapped her lips lightly as she thought for a moment, looking to Tucker with a smile. "Tucker, what's next on our schedule?"

"Uh, go to the Nasty Burger to grab some food, then head to the zoo to watch the gorilla again."

"Good. I think it's safe to say we should skip dinner today and do something a little ahead of schedule. Come on."

With that, the girl turned and jogged out the doors, leaving the boys in confusion.

"What, no Nasty Burger pit stop? But I was looking forward to that!" Tucker called out as both teens ran to catch up with their gothic friend.

* * *

Six o'clock rolled around, and the three teenagers stood outside Sampson's cage, waiting. As Sam predicted, Skulker appeared just outside the window to the building opposite the ape exhibit. When he realised the kids weren't inside, his gaze swept down below. As soon as he spotted them, he swooped down swiftly, coming to stand before them.

"Finally decided to accept your fate, child? Very well." Skulker said in a smooth tone, smiling as he raised his right arm, a gun emerging to aim at Danny. "Say goodbye."

The gun glowed as it charged up to fire, only to recede back into Skulker's arm at the last second. The ghost looked down in confusion as a very familiar tune played out.

"What? What is the meaning of this!"

"It's called hacking, dude." Tucker said with a smirk, holding his second PDA as he typed into it. "Now let's see; how 'bout some pushups?"

Skulker frowned as he watched his arms move beyond his will, landing on his front as he began doing military-style pushups. He gave a roar of rage as he tried to resist. Tucker laughed as he watched the display.

Skulker stood with death in his eyes as he glared down on the teens, a gun rising from his shoulder, prepared to fire.

"I don't think so." Tucker said in a sing-song voice as he hit 'send' on his PDA, and Skulker's arm once again rang out.

"Polish armor?"

Skulker yelled in dismay as the PDA carried out the task given to it by Tucker. Said boy was about doubling over in laughter along with Danny, both enjoying the show. Sam didn't seem to share in the hilarity of it all.

"Stop fooling around, Tucker, and power him down!"

"Oh relax, Sam, everything's totally under-"

The PDA was blasted from his grasp, shattered pieces flying. Tucker cried out and clutched his hand as Skulker lowered his gun with a grim expression, any joy he had found in the hunt now gone.

"I was informed by my benefactor to give you a swift and painless death, but since you insist on thwarting me at every turn, we will be doing this _my_ way. By the time I'm finished with you, your pelt shall rest at the foot of my bed!"

"Okay, that's just gross." Sam shuddered at the mental image.

As Skulker pulled a long knife from his belt, Sam turned and saw Sampson gripping the bars of his cage, staring silently out at them with wide eyes. Without thinking, she ran to the monitor and hit the green release button. The exhibit door opened and the ape was no more than a white blur as he launched himself through the air at Skulker, who was far too focused on Danny to see the attack coming.

The three friends huddled together as metal parts were flung about, barely missing them. The gorilla was relentless in his assault, any weapon Skulker produced it ripped off and threw. In a matter of seconds, the metal ghost was reduced to scrap parts and wires. The silence that followed was almost deafening as the friends stood back up, surveying the scene.

"But I still don't understand." Tucker said, bending to pick up the head of Skulker, eyes now black and hollow, no green flame flickering on top. "Why would a ghost need a high-tech battle suit?"

Suddenly a clicking sound came from the head in Tucker's arms, and two legs kicked out. A small green mass landed on the ground before the stunned teenagers. It rose and looked up at them with angry eyes.

"I am Skulker! Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, and you shall be mine soon, ghost child! Your second death will be a slow one, and I shall dine on your remains!"

It was hard to take the ghost's words seriously when he said them in such a high-pitched voice, and all three kids were laughing long and hard, not noticing or caring when the small ghost finally vanished from sight.

"Well, at least that's finally over." Danny said with a sigh.

"But we don't have anything for our report!" Sam replied, throwing her hands into the air with a frustrated frown.

"I'm sure we can bluff our way through it, and besides," Danny said as he crouched down to pick up Tucker's old PDA, now detached from Skulkers arm, wires still protruding from it. "We've stopped Skulker from hunting me down, we're all safe, and no one's found out that I'm a gho-oh my gosh!" He had turned to look at Sampson, who'd come up behind him. Unfortunately Danny got an eyeful of much more than he'd been prepared for. He quickly stood and stepped away from the ape, who calmly regarded his outburst.

"What is it? Is he hurt?" Sam said with a concerned expression.

"Um, well, _she's _not hurt, if that's what you mean." Danny replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wait what?" Sam raised an eyebrow before it hit her, and she gasped in surprise. "Oh my god, Sampson's a girl!?"

"Unless we were all very misinformed in health class, I'd say yes." Was Danny's answer.

Sam began leading Sampson back into the ape exhibit, seeming caught in her own thoughts. Tucker, meanwhile, burst into a fit of laughter, throwing the metal head to the ground.

"Aw man, you were face-level with that's gorilla's-"

Danny shoved his hand into Tucker's face, whipping the other teen's head back and effectively cutting of the rest of his sentence. Red was already creeping up the back of Danny's neck. The taller male continued to laugh hysterically in the growing night, Danny soon just tackling him to the ground as Sam shook her head at them both.

"Boys."


End file.
